* 


. 


\ 


tj£ 

Treatment  for  Self  Ifteallng  | 

"/  come  that  ye  may  have  Life  and  have 
it  more  abundantly." 


m 


art  ever  beside  me,  Divine  One! 
In  Silence  I  seek  now  thy  aid  ! 
take  thy  hand  trustingly  * 
And  am  of  nothing  afraid, 
I  cling  to  thy  Love  in  the  Silence, 

Forgot  is  Life's  unrest  and  care, 
I  trust  in  thy  promise  of  healing  ! 

All  is  well,  for  I  know  thou  art  near! 
I  rest  like  a  babe  o»~  the  bosom 

Of  her  who  gave  to  it  life  1 
I've  relaxed  every  nerve  of  my  body  ; 

And  Faith  has  o'ercome  all  my  strife. 
Thus  resting,  1  receive,  O  my  Father! 

Thought's  ocean  is  bearing  me  on! 
The  winds  of  the  Spirit  are  wafting 

Me  unto  the  Peace  of  I  he  One  ! 
One  is  the  source  of  my  Being! 

One  is  my  Healer  of  pain! 
Drifting  in  Peace  in  the  Silence 

I  find  my  lost  youth  again! 
I  am  thine,  O  thou  who  art  Patience! 

From  thy  Presence  all  suffer  ing's  flown! 
Sweetly  over  my  desert  of  error 

The  blossoms  of  Truth  are  now  sown. 
The  One  Life  my  Being  is  filling! 

Health  within  me  is  weaving  i's  chain. 
I  am  healed  !    I  am  healed  !   O  beloved! 

In  Thee  1  am  healed  of  my  pain! 
Amen  and  Amen  I    In  Peace  now 

I  resume  my  labor  laid  down! 
Love  Divine  in  Truth  has  redeemed  me! 

O  Soul  thou  hast  come  to  thine  own! 

— HENRY  HARRISON  BROWN. 


To  be  memorized,   and  repeated,  "in  Faith  believing' 
at  times  of  mental  or  physical  distress, 

^J?&ffi*J1S&Z®~3ti^  viitiMffiiifoVfi^' 


Copyrighted  by  H.  H.  Brown  1912 


OTHER  BOOKS 

BY  HENRY  HARRISON  BROWN 


The  Lord's  Prayer.  A  Vision  of  Today. 

Leatherette,  $1.00. 
Concentration — The  Road  to  Success 
120  pp.     Paper,  soc. 

Success:  How  Won  Through  Affirmation. 

zoo  pp.     Paper,  SOG. 
How  to  Control  Fate  Through  Suggestion 

60  pp.     Paper,  250. 
Self-Healing  Through  Suggestion* 

60  pp.     Paper,  250. 
Not  Hypnotism,  But  Suggestion 

60  pp.     Paper,  25C. 
Man's  Greatest  Discovery.  Paper,  250. 

Dollars  Want  Me— The  New  Road  to  Opulence 
24  pp.     Paper,  loc. 

....Other  Publications  in  Preparation.... 

Mr.  Brown  is  also  Editor  and  Publisher  of  a 
New  Thought  Magazine  entitled  "NOW"  A 
Journal  of  Affirmation.  |i.oo  a  year.  Address 

589  Haight  St.,  SAN   FRANCISCO,  CAL. 


CDc  Cora's  prapcr 

fl  Vision  or  Co-dap 

m 

A  SERIES  OF  ESSA  YS 

—  BY  - 

HENRY    HARRISON    BROWN 


SOUL    CULTURIST 


Prayer  is  the  contemplation  of  the  facts  of  life  from  the 
highest  point  of  view.  It  ifc  a  soliloquy  of  a  beholding  and 
jubilant  soul.  It  is  the  spirit  of  God  pronouncing  h*,s  vrork  good. 

in  "Self  Iterance." 


NOW"  COMPANY 
San  Francisco,  California 
1915 


RAYER  is  one  of  the  elements 
of  the  religious  life.  It  is  the 
vehicle  through  which  spiritual 
medicine  is  given.  A  valuable  specific 
for  the  mental  and  spiritual  disturb- 
ances that  underlie  all  disease.  it  is 
a  natural  instinct  of  the  soul.  It  is  as 
natural  for  us  under  certain  circumstances 
to  look  to  a  Supreme  Power  above  us,  or 
within  us,  for  help  as  it  is  for  birds  of  pas- 
sage, at  certain  seasons  of  the  year,  to  go 
south.  We  are  drawn  by  a  spiritual  instinct 
to  God  in  prayer  because  it  is  a  part  of  the 
Divine  plan  that  thus  we  should  find  relief. 
Prayer  is  a  conscious  recognition  of  our 
dependence  and  subjection  to  powers  un- 
seen, but  superior  to  our  own The  in- 
fluence of  a  calm  trust  and  faith  express- 
ing itself  in  prayer,  uttered  or  unexpressed, 
over  the  functions  of  organic  life,  cannot 
be  overestimated. — F.  W.  Evans  in  "The 
Divine  Law  of  Cure". 


Contents. 

Proem    11 

Our  Father  15 

Who  Art  in  Heaven 23 

Hallowed  Be  Thy  Name 37 

Thy  Kingdom  Come 51 

Thy  Will  Be  Done 65 

On  Earth 75 

As  It  Is  in  Heaven 89 

Give  Us  This  Day,  etc. 97 

Forgive  Us,  etc., 109 

Lead  Us,  etc. 119 

Deliver  Us,  etc. 135 

Epilogue,  For  Thine,  etc. 143 

Forever    163 

The  Silent  Hour. 

Theodore   Parker's   Prayer   167 

J.  L-  Jones'  Prayer 172 

Help  Thou  Mine  Unbelief 174 

Agreement  180 

Nature  _. 181 

Being    183 

Experience 185 

Self   Trust   187 

Harmony    189 

Supply 191 

Liberty    193 

Love    195 

Trust  197 

Friendship   199 

Guidance    201 

Light    203 

Peace    213 

I  Welcome  All  218 

Herein  is   Peace   218 

God's   Autograph    219 

Mine  Own 220 

vii 


things  are  wrought  by  prayer 
Than  this  world  dreams  of.    Where- 
fore let  thy  voice 
Rise  like  a  fountain  for  me  night  and  day. 
For   what    are    men    better   than    sheep    or 

goats 

That  nourish  a  blind  life  within  the  brain, 
If,    knowing    God,    they    lift    not    hands    of 

prayer 
Both    for    themselves    and    those    who    call 

them   friend? 

For  so  the  whole  round  earth  is  every  way 
Bound  by  gold  chains  about  the  feet  of  God. 
— Tennyson,  in  "Idylls  of  the  King". 


O,  God,  give  us  the  whirlwind  vision!  Let 

us  see 
Clear-eyed,   that   flame     creation   we   call 

earth, 
And  Man,  the  shining  image,  like  to  Thee. 

Let  the  new  age  come  swiftly  to  the  birth, 
When    this — Thy   world    shall   know    itself 

divine; 
And  mortals  waking  from  their  dream  of 

sense, 
Shall   ask   no   proof,    no     message    and    no 

sign — 

Man's  larger  sight,  the  unanswerable  ev- 
idence. 

— Angela  Morgan. 

viii 


PROEM. 

^-HROUGH  this  Prayer  all  the  rev- 
\y  erence,  faith,  trust,  love  and  re- 
ligious fervor  of  ages  has  been 
uttered.  It  may  seem  sacrilege,  how- 
ever sacredly  we  may  question  it,  to 
put  new  interpretations  to  it.  Like  as  an 
old  Cremona  retains  the  echo  of  an  inspira- 
tion of  the  magic  hands  that  have  once  set 
it  into  musical  vibrations  so  this  Prayer 
retains  the  music  of  the  lips  that  taught  us 
to  pray,  and  the  affections  of  whom 
we  have  heard  utter  it.  As  the  English 
speech  uttered  by  one  unseen  in  our 
hearing  in  foreign  lands  brings  to  our 
thought  a  flood  of  memories,  and  to  our 
eyes  tears;  as  the  flag  of  one's  country  on 
a  foreign  soil  awakens  into  glow  the  loyal, 
throbbing  heart;  as  the  song  mother  sang 
still  carries  in  later  manhood  all  that  moth- 
er's power,  though  sang  by  one  unknown; 
as  the  photograph  brings  to  vision  the  face 
we  loved,  but  long  lost  to  mortal  sight;  as 
the  melody  of  boyhood  makes  the  old  man 
a  boy  again,  even  so  do  the  words  of  the 
Prayer  stir  in  us  all  that  we  have  felt  and 
thought  since  we  lisped  it  at  mother's  knee. 
In  this  spirit  I  invite  its  study.  Modern 
criticism  and  the  added  intelligence  of  to- 
day are  throwing  so  much  of  the  past  that 
we  hold  sacred  into  the  waste,  that  I 
would  save  this,  which  the  heart  rebels  to 

ix 


let  go,  to  the  reverent  love  of  the  present. 
I  wish  still  to  keep  in  it  the  echoes  of 
childhood;  the  vibrations  of  the  home;  the 
throbs  of  early  loves;  the  sacredness  of  filial 
and  fraternal  lives;  the  reverence  that  old 
age,  the  altar  and  the  grave  have  left  in  it. 
Hallowed  association  and  fond  memories 
are  the  best  avenues  through  which  we  may 
reach  the  Sacred  Altar  of  the  Soul.  Here 
they  are  enshrined,  and  here  I  would  leave 
them,  merely  adding  to  the  dim  religious 
light  of  oriel  and  nave,  and  to  the  vest- 
ments of  religious  faith,  the  glory  of  the 
scientific  faith,  and  the  awakened  spirit  of 
invention.  We  need  not  accept  the  thought 
of  monk,  priest  and  ecclesiastic;  we  need 
not  repeat  the  creeds  of  synod,  council,  diet, 
edict  or  king.  We  will,  however,  find  with- 
in ourselves  the  same  reverence  for  good- 
mess,  the  same  love  of  Truth;  and  the  same 
inspiration  from  beauty  which  all  the  past 
devotees  under  all  lines  of  thought  have 
wrought.  While  intellectually  we  differ 
widely,  we  are  of  the  same  humanity,  and 
diverse  in  thought,  we  are  one  in  feeling. 
Each  will  find  in  the  spirit  of  the  Prayer  a 
common  expression  for  a  common  need. 
In  the  Spirit  of  Unity,  and  with  Peace  in 
my  heart  and  Good  Will  inspiring  my  pen, 
I  send  forth  these  Twentieth  Century 
Thoughts  upon  the  Prayer  of  the  Ages. 


Each  day  before  the  blessed  Heaven, 
I  open  wide  the  windows  of  my  Soul 
And  pray  the  Holy  Ghost  to  enter  in. 
—Theodore  Tilton. 


BE  not  afraid  to  pray — to  pray  is  right. 
Pray  if  thou  canst  with  hope;  but  ever 

pray. 

Though  hope  be  weak  or  sick  with  long  de- 
lay. 

Pray  in  the  darkness  if  there  be  no  light, 
For  in  the  time  remote  from  human  sight 
When  war  and  discord  on  this  earth  shall 

cease; 

Yet  every  prayer  for  universal  peace 
Avails  the  blessed  time  to  expedite, 
What   e'er   is   good     to     wish  ask   that   of 

heaven, 
Though  it  be  that  thou  canst  not  hope  to 

see: 

Pray  to  be  perfect  though  material  leaven 
Forbid  the  spirit  so  on  earth  to  be, 
But  if  for  any  wish  thou  darest  not  pray, 
Then  pray  to  God  to  cast  that  wish  away. 
—Hartley  Coleridge. 

xi 


E  nature  of  spiritual  prayer  is 
dual;  it  is  breathing  and  the  air 
breathed;  it  is  seeking  and  that 
which  is  sought.  Thought  and  con- 
centration, these  are  its  vehicles;  wis- 
dom, and  truth,  love — of  such  is  its 
basis.  It  is  the  ultimate  concept;  it  is  the 
drawing  of  the  Soul  toward  God, — the  sub- 
lime expression  of  trust  in  that  which  we 
have  not  seen.  Trust!  Trust!  How  can 
there  be  life  without  faith?  To  doubt  the 
goodness  of  God  is  to  belie  mother  and 
father.  He  who  boldly  lays  claim  to  the 
real  prerogatives  of  man  which  are  spirit- 
ual, who  elects  henceforth  to  walk  with 
God,  shall  be  reinforced  by  Infinite  Power 
and  shall  be  wise  by  communications  of  the 
Supreme  Mind. — Stanton  Davis  Kirkham. 


xii 


OUR  Father  in  heaven 
We  hallow  thy  name; 
May  thy  kingdom  holy 
On  earth  be  the  same! 
Oh,  give  to  us  daily 

Our  portion  of  bread; 
It  is  from  thy  bounty 

That  all  must  be  fed! 
Forgive   our   transgressors 
And  teach  us  to  know, 
That   humble    compassion, 
That   pardons   each   foe! 
Keep  us  from   temptation, 
From  weakness  and  sin, 
And  thine  be  the  glory, 
Forever!     Amen! 

(Rhythmic  version.) 


xiii 


After  this  manner  therefore  pray  ye    .    . 

V 

R  Father  which  art  in  heaven, 

Hallowed  be  thy  name! 

Thy  Kingdom  come! 

Thy  will  be  done  in  earth  as  it  is  in  heaven, 
Give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread. 
And  forgive  us  our  debts 
As  we  forgive  our  debtors. 
And  lead  us  not  into  temptation. 
But   deliver  us   from   evil. 

Amen. 

— (Tichendor's   version.) 


xiv 


"OUR  FATHER  WHO  ART 
IN  HEAVEN." 


title  of  Heavein-Father 
Universal  Power,  is  the 
oldest  title  in  literature. 
Max  Mueller  traces  it  back  from 
our  times  through  the  Latin  Jupi- 
ter, and  the  Greek  Zeus-Pater, 
to  the  old  Aryan  literature.  It 
is  also  found  in  the  Chinese  in  the 
religious  word  "Ti."  The  concep- 
tion of  God  as  Father,  as  found  in 
the  New  Testament,  no  doubt  came 
from  the  Greek  through  the  Alex- 
andrian School  of  Philosophy.  But 
it  is  found  in  certain  Hebrew  litera- 
ture, and  was  probably  brought  to 
them  through  the  Persian  conquest 
by  Cyrus.  This  conception  is  a  nat- 
ural one,  as  primitive  man's  first 
ideas  of  the  Universe  would  neces- 

15 


'satiny  foe  that,  of  power,  and  he 
would  also  necessarily  locate  that 
power  in  the  unseen  universe  which 
was,  to  him,  the  over-shadowing 
heavens.  As  earthly  power  center- 
ed at  that  time  in  the  father  (for 
the  earliest  government  was  patri- 
archal), he  would  naturally  give 
that  term  to  Universal  Power  which 
stood  to  him  as  the  symbol  of  ma- 
terial authority. 

His  conception  of  the  qualities  and 
demands  of  that  power  would  neces- 
sarily be  colored  by  his  experiences 
with  his  earthly  father.  All  con- 
ceptions of  God  are  formed  from 
the  personal  experiences  of  the  in- 
dividual. Thus,  when  men  devel- 
oped government  of  tribe  and  king- 
dom, God  became  to  them  a  Chief 
and  a  King.  To  the  warrior,  he  is  a 
God  of  Battles;  to  the  peaceful,  he 
is  the  Prince  of  Peace. 
In  the  prayer  which  Jesus  gave  his 
disciples  permission  to  use,  is  the 
title  "Our  Father."  In  this  per- 
sonal pronoun  "Our"  Jesus  lifted 

16 


that  early  conception  out  of  the  bar- 
barous idea,  out  of  the  idea  of  sepa- 
rateness,  distance  and  limitation, 
thus  making  it  a  personal  matter- 
near,  filial  and  warm. 
The  thought  contained  in  "Our 
Father "  is  the  noblest  conception 
ever  applied  to  Absolute  Life;  is 
purely  in  harmony  with  the  facts  of 
Nature  and  the  later  conception  of 
Unity.  It  is  one  of  the  greatest,  if 
not  the  greatest  contribution  to  re- 
ligious thought  ever  made  by  any 
teacher,  and  shows  the  great  supe- 
riority of  the  Gospels  over  all  other 
religious  literature. 
"Our  Father "  links  in  spirit,  as 
well  as  in  name,  the  Father  and  Son, 
the  Creator  and  created,  the  condi- 
tioned and  the  Unconditioned,  the 
manifestation  and  the  Power  which 
manifests. 

The  Son  must  necessarily  inherit 
the  powers,  possibilities,  faculties, 
and  functions  of  the  parent.  Jesus 
in  this  connection  places  the  human 
soul,  in  human  thought,  not  as  a 
separate  entity,  but  as  an  expres- 

17 


sion  of  the  One.  He  gives  to 
each  human  individuality  omnipo- 
tent and  omniscient  power,  with  in- 
finite possibilities  of  expression. 
He  also  in  the  word  "Our,"  links 
humanity  into  one  whole,  making  it 
not  only  one  family,  but  one  great 
human  soul.  He  said  later  "I  go  to 
my  God  and  your  God,  to  my  Father 
and  to  your  Father. " 
The  reception,  application  and  re- 
alization of  this  conception  is  the 
whole  of  New  Thought,  and  the 
many  methods  through  which  this 
may  be  applied  and  realized  neces- 
sarily gives  rise  to  many  schools. 
Individual  conception  and  ex- 
perience in  life  color  the  instruction 
of  every  teacher;  but  when  we  add 
to  Jesus '  expression, ' '  Our  Father, ' ' 
his  definition  of  God,  namely,  <  '  God 
is  Spirit"  and  "God  is  Love,"  we 
have  the  key  to  his  conception  of 
God  as  Father  and  man  as  His  child. 
Since  God  is  Spirit  and  Love,  His 
child  is  Spirit  and  Love. 
When  one  using  this  prayer  says 
"Our  Father"  and  shall  think  of 

18 


himself  as  Spirit  and  Love,  and  as 
one  with  the  Father  in  Spirit,  he 
will  bring  himself  into  true  spirit- 
ual and  filial  relation  with  Univer- 
sal Life,  and  make  himself  recep- 
tive to  an  involution  from  that  Life 
which  will  manifest  in  him  an  un- 
folding consciousness  of  himself  as 
Spirit  and  as  Love. 
This  mental  attitude  is  that  of  re- 
ceptivity along  every  line  of  expres- 
sion. It  will  give  inspiration  to 
thought,  to  health,  to  body  and  to 
success  in  endeavor.  What  my 
Father  is,  I  am.  The  intelligence 
my  Father  is,  is  mine  to  express. 
The  life  my  Father  is,  is  mine  to 
enjoy.  The  power  my  Father  is,  is 
mine  to  use. 

As  one  grows  into  the  mental  habit 
of  thus  looking  upon  himself  as  a 
child  of  God,  he  casts  away  all  re- 
grets of  the  past,  all  thought  for 
the  future,  all  fear,  worry  and  anxi- 
ety in  the  present.  An  abiding  faith 
in  himself,  as  a  child  of  God,  and  in 
his  ability  to  accomplish  whatever 
he  desires,  gives  him  peace  of  mind, 

19 


mental  poise  and  physical  health. 
I  can  think  of  no  two  words  that 
have  equal  power  for  the  New 
Thought  teacher  and  the  mental 
healer,  and  of  none  that  open  to  the 
individual  such  realization  of  Uni- 
versal Love, 

Concentration  upon  this  thought  of 
the  individual  as  one  with  Unity, 
with  Universal  Life,  Intelligence 
and  Love,  using  affirmations  of 
unity  with  it,  must  necessarily 
bring  that  state  of  mind  which  is 
the  culmination  of  individual  un- 
foldment  while  in  the  flesh,  i.  e., 
present  consciousness  of  immortal- 
ity. This,  Jesus  realized  when  he 
declared,  "The  Father  and  I  are 
one!" 

Thus  that  early  thought  of  the 
"Heaven-Father"  has  become  the 
later  thought  of  Unity. 
Through  ages  there  has  been  an 
evolution  of  Human  Perception  and 
of  the  Truth  the  ancients  felt  as 
they  looked  upon  the  heavens  and 
there  enthroned  Infinite  Power,  as 

20 


Universal  Father.  This  thought 
has  become  our  thought  of  Omnipo- 
tence. The  human  consciousness 
has  found  itself  to  be  Love,  and  that 
perception  of  Self  as  Love  is  now 
enthroned  in  the  universe,  and  Om- 
nipotence is  not  alone  Power,  but 
is  Loving  Power.  It  is  Love. 
It  has  taken  ages  for  man  to  drop 
the  symbol  of  Thor's  hammer  for 
the  Heaven-Father,  and  put  in  its 
place  the  symbol  of  Calvary 's  cross. 
Force  is  fast  yielding  to  Love  among 
the  nations  of  the  earth.  The  angels ' 
Christmas  song  is  embodied  in  this 
later  perception,  and  through  ' '  Our 
Father "  realized,  will  that  prom- 
ised age  come.  Coming  first  to  the 
individual  in  the  consciousness  re- 
alized in  "I  AM  LOVE! »  and  later 
in  the  Eealization  of  Unity,  ex- 
pressed in:  "The  Father  and  I  are 


one!' 


By  lowly  listening  you  shall  hear  the  right 
word. — Emerson. 

21 


If  all  we  miss 

In  the  great  plans  that  shake 
The  world  still  God  has  need  of  this — 

Even  of  our  mistake. 

— Rose  Hawthorne  Lathrop. 


I  hear  and  behold  God  in  every  object,  yet 

I  understand  God  not  in  the  least. 
Why  should  I  wish  to  see  God  better  than 

this  day? 
I   see  something  of  God   each  hour  of  the 

twenty-four  and  each  moment  then, 
In  the  faces  of  men  and  women  I  see  God 

and  in  my  own  face  in  the  glass, 
I   find   letters   from      God     dropped   in   the 

street,  and  each  one  signed  it  by  God's 

name, 
And   I   leave   them   where     they  are,  for  I 

know  that  whereso'er  I  go 
Others   will   punctually  come   for  ever   and 

ever. 

—Walt  Whitman. 


Forgive  the  call! 

I  cannot  shut  Thee  from  my  sense  or  soul! 
I  cannot  loose  me  in  the  Boundless  Whole; 
For  Thou  art  ALL! 

— Frances  Ellingwood  Abott. 

22 


"IN  HEAVEN." 

"WHO  ART  IN  HEAVEN." 

ZT    is    common   for    the    reader 
and   student   of    the    Bible  to 
import     into     its     words     an 
interpretation    from   the    thoughts 
of     today.      The     twentieth     cen- 
tury   A.    D.    is    as    unlike    that  of 
the  first  as  the  civilization  of  the 
New  England  states  is  unlike  that 
of  Mexico. 

Habits  of  life  and  thought;  customs 
and  laws;  traditions  and  prejudices; 
social  and  civil  amenities,  are  at 
antipodes. 

Then  astronomy,  biology,  physiolo- 
gy, hygiene,  geography  and  other 
sciences,  all  now  commonplace,  were 
then  unknown.  Mythology  was 
prevalent,  Each  phenomenon  and 
almost  every  individual  thing  had 
its  god. 
The  student  of  Greek  history  learns 


the  power  of  mythology.  When  he 
will  remember  that  the  philosophy 
of  the  New  Testament  is  Greek,  and 
will  seek  to  interpret  the  New  Tes- 
tament in  the  light  of  Greek  "  Logos 
philosophy/'  he  will  come  nearer  to 
an  understanding  of  the  life  and 
words  recorded  therein  of  Jesus, 
than  he  can  in  any  other  way. 
It  is  well  known  to  scholars  that  all 
distinctive  philosophy  in  the  New 
Testament  is  Greek.  Very  little  of 
Hebrew  thought  is  there.  What 
there  is,  is  largely  from  the  Essenes, 
one  of  the  three  sects  into  which 
Judaism  was  divided. 

When  New  Thought  students  will 
thus  read  and  interpret  they  will 
see  that  when  they  attempt  to  alle- 
gorize or  to  symbolize  the  Bible, 
they  are  dropping  out  of  the  mod- 
ern scientific  methods  of  arriving 
at  truth  and  adopting  the  old  Tal 
mudic  method,  a  method  of  author- 
ity, of  ignorance  and  superstition. 
The  method  which  Paul  adopted 
when  he  spoke  of  Sarah  as  a  city; 

24 


when  the  record  tells  us  she  was  a 
wife  of  Abraham. 

Once  we  allow  ourselves  to  read  in 
symbols  we  enter  a  maze  and  add 
only  one  more  to  the  hundreds  of 
symbolic  interpretations  of  scrip- 
ture. One  could  take  the  life  of  any 
public  man  or  any  era  in  the  history 
of  any  nation,  and  through  symbol- 
ism develop  a  system  and  a  philoso- 
phy. The  method  of  Mrs.  Eddy  in 
her  "Key  to  the  Scriptures"  is  the 
old  Talmudic  method  of  reading  the 
Bible  not  as  history,  but  as  a  mystic 
and  esoteric  work,  that  needs  inter- 
pretation. A  system  of  symbols 
must  be  created  for  that  purpose. 
This  is  well  for  those  that  wish  to 
live  through  faith  in  some  author- 
ity. But  it  has  no  place  in  the  life 
of  one  who  desires  Truth  above  Au- 
thority. 

There  are  two  ways  of  reading:  one 
for  intellectual  pleasure  and  devel- 
opment, and  one  for  the  cultivation 
of  the  feelings  of  reverence  and 
peace,  those  emotions  which  we 

25 


may  class  under  the  term  religious. 
As  a  religious  inspiration,  the 
"Lord's  Prayer, "  like  the  "Twen- 
ty-third Psalm, "  is  no  doubt  un- 
equalled in  all  other  literature.  But 
we  are  not  to  think  for  a  moment 
that  whatever  awakens  emotions  of 
the  religious  is  necessarily  Truth. 
If  it  were,  then  all  mythologies  and 
all  theologies  are  truth,  for  each  has 
been  the  occasion  of  the  deepest  re- 
ligious feeling.  The  error  of  the 
ages  has  been  to  make  religion  de- 
pend upon  some  intellectual  state- 
ment on  the  one  hand  and  on  the 
other  hand  to  awaken  the  religious 
sentiment  through  an  appeal  to  the 
emotions  without  a  cultivation  of 
the  reasoning  powers. 
The  intention  of  our  New  Thought 
philosophy  is  to  keep  each  in  its 
proper  province.  Emerson  saw  this 
and  says: 

"In  your  metaphysics  you  have  de- 
nied personality  to  the  Deity;  yet 
when  the  devout  emotions  of  the 
soul  come,  yield  to  them  heart  and 

26 


life,  though  they  should  clothe  God 
with  shape  and  color.  Leave  your 
theory,  as  Joseph  his  coat  in  the 
hands  of  the  harlot,  and  flee." 
I  shall  attempt  first  of  all  to  find 
what  Truth  is  in  the  Prayer  and 
then  we  may  use  it  as  a  vehicle  to 
carry  the  intelligence  of  today 
through  aspiration  if  we  choose. 
Heaven  was  a  term  with  a  very  dif- 
ferent meaning  from  our  present 
one  in  days  of  New  Testament  his- 
tory. In  ancient  astronomy  it  meant 
a  circular  concave  sphere  or,  better, 
a  concentric  series  of  spheres  sur- 
rounding the  earth  as  the  crystal 
covers  the  face  of  a  watch.  They 
were  made  of  something  transpar- 
ent, but  equally  material  with  earth. 
Over  each  of  these  ' '  floors  of  heav- 
en" rolled  one  of  the  planets.  Seven 
heavens,  one  for  each  of  the  seven 
planets,  moon,  Mercury,  Venus,  sun, 
Mars,  Jupiter  and  Saturn.  The 
eighth  was  the  heaven  of  the  fixed 
stars  and  was  particularly  called 
"the  firmament!"  This  was  the 

27 


general  thought  among  the  masses. 
But  some  of  the  astronomers  of  the 
first  century  held  to  other  concep- 
tions. Ptolemy  added  a  ninth 
sphere  and  some  went  so  far  as  to 
add  seventy. 

Therefore  the  heaven  which  the  au- 
thor of  the  New  Testament  prayer 
believed  in,  was  a  material  heaven 
with  seven  floors.  Above  them  a 
firmament  where  was  situated  the 
throne  of  God. 

And  since  this  New  Testament  phil- 
osophy was  Greek,  we  must  turn  to 
them  to  complete  this  first  century 
conception.  I  have  no  intention 
here  of  recording  Greek  mythology. 
You  realize  the  gods  of  the  Greek 
pantheon  were  mainy  and  all  en- 
dowed with  human  attributes. 
Above  all  these  they  placed  FATE, 
whidh  was  superior  to  them  allj. 
Here  we  will  find  the  beginning  of 
the  idea  of  Unity.  One  Supreme 
power  above  and  beyond  all  the 
heavenly  hosts  of  lesser  gods. 
Next  we  come  to  the  word  "Logos" 

28 


which  is  translated  in  John's  Gos- 
pel "the  Word."  Its  meaning  has 
been  given  variously  by  scholars. 
But  theologians  have  used  it  as 
synonymous  with  Christ.  But  it 
meant  to  the  Greek  philosopher  this 
One  Power  above  all.  To  others, 
however,  it  was  what  we  call 
"The  Unknown  God,"  whom 
Paul  tried  to  reveal  unto  the  Corin- 
thians. By  giving  his  idea  to  them 
he  elevated  their  conception  of  God. 
For  the  God-idea  is  as  subject  to 
evolution  as  any  other  that  has 
evolved  through  the  ages. 
The  Father  of  the  Prayer  was  to 
them  the  One  Power  above  all  oth- 
ers who  dwelt  in  the  firmament  and 
included  in  his  sphere  the  earth  and 
all  between.  There  he  ruled  as  a 
monarch  ruled  on  earth.  For  we 
must  not  forget  that  among  all  an- 
cient and  primitive  peoples  the  gods 
and  their  attendants,  while  unseen, 
were  substantial  and  material  reali- 
ties. They  could  assume  a  material 
appearance  and  could  assist  mortals 

29 


in  all  their    affairs,  even    hurling 
stones  in  battle. 

We  must  not  import  our  present 
conceptions  of  spirit,  soul  and  mind 
into  the  ancient  writings. 
All  our  words  concerning  the  im- 
material or  spiritual  universe  come 
from  the  Greek.  The  ancient  He- 
brews had  no  words  for  anything 
but  earth  and  that  realm  where  the 
dead  went ' '  the  underworld, 9 '  a  ma- 
terial place  which  they  made  no  at- 
tempt to  define.  The  Hebrew  was 
not  philosophical  or  speculative. 
He  was  an  eclectic,  and  accepted 
from  other  nations  that  which  fitted 
his  cast  of  mind.  But  he  did  not 
create  even  his  theology.  His  God 
was  a  king  who  appointed  an  earth- 
ly representative,  and  the  earthly 
kingdom  was  a  reflex  of  the  heav- 
enly. David  and  Solomon  held  of- 
fice not  because  the  people  chose 
them  but  because  God  did.  A  fal- 
lacy that  now  backs  up  the  thrones 
of  Europe. 
Heaven,  God,  earth  and  man  were 

30 


all  made  of  the  same  substance. 
Gods  were  many  and  differed  in  de- 
gree of  po^er  only.  The  Hebrew 
declared  "Our  God  is  a  Great  God," 
above  all  other  gods.  He  recog- 
nized the  gods  of  other  nations  but 
regarded  them  as  evil  to  his  nation. 
The  gods  of  one  nation  became  the 
demons  of  another  nation.  From  the 
earliest  times  the  Aryan  gods  pass- 
ed into  other  provinces  and  became 
the  devils  of  the  Persian,  Greek  and 
Roman  religions. 

We  are  always  to  remember  that 
the  GREAT  FACT,  under  all  these 
conceptions,  remains,  and  that  is— 
THE  POWER  BEHIND  ALL  PHE- 
NOMENA IS!  All  that  has  chang- 
ed is  the  human  conception  of  It. 
We  cannot  think  Jesus'  conception! 
We  cannot  reverence  what  he  rev- 
erenced, in  his  words  and  in  his 
form.  We  cannot  enter  into  his  in- 
tellectual conditions,  nor  enjoy  the 
objective  phenomena  that  told  him 
of  a  God,  in  a  material  heaven;  but 
we  can,  and  when  we  enter  into  the 

31 


reality  which  he  entered,  we  must 
FEEL  what  he  felt,  and  must  come 
into  communion  with  the  same  Uni- 
versal Power.  What  I  wish  to  awa- 
ken is  an  intense  desire  for  that 
same  spiritual  realization  that  he 
had,  and  while  we  are  not  called 
upon  to  know  his  conception,  nor  to 
attempt  to  think  his  thought  of  God 
and  heaven,  still  we  can,  and  we 
will,  when  we  come  into  that  same 
mental  attitude,  in  which  he  used 
the  words,  feel  the  same  communion 
and  have  the  same  realization  which 
he  had. 

While  we  will  not  attempt  to  twist 
the  words  to  our  thought  and  will 
not  wrench  them  from  their  Hebra- 
ic and  Attic  meaning,  we  will,  when 
we  wish  to  use  them  devotionally, 
repeat  them  with  our  conception, 
with  the  same  religious  emotion, 
and  with  the  same  reverence  that 
he  did.  When  we  find  it  necessary 
to  pray  we  will  put  our  idea  of 
Unity  and  of  Brotherhood  into  the 
spirit  in  which  these  words 

32 


found  utterance  from  his  lips. 
We  know  that  it  is  not  Truth 
alone  that  saves,  that  we  are  not 
saved  by  intellect,  but  that  "Love 
is  the  fulfilling  of  the  Law."  That 
while  we  may  feel  with  Jesus  and 
Buddha,  with  Hebrew  and  Greek  and 
Roman  and  Turk,  the  same  spirit, 
we  cannot  have  the  same  mental 
picture  they  had,  and  while  we 
unite  with  them  in  the  worship  of 
the  Reality  behind  all  phenomena, 
which  we  see  behind  all  names,  we 
cannot  unite  in  their  conception. 
For  while  in  Love  we  are  one  race; 
in  Thought  we  are  each  an  indepen- 
dent, individual  expression  of  the 
race  life.  "While  we-  say: — "As 
in  heaven,"  our  heaven  is  not  that 
of  Jesus,  nor  of  any  other  person. 
It  is  not  situated  where  his  was  in 
thought,  but  it  is  one  in  spirit  with 
his. 

Our  name  for  heaven  in  reality  is 
the  same  he  felt,  for  our  name  is 
Love.  He  said,  "God  is  Love," 
and  his  command  was  "to  love"! 


We  obey  the  same  God,  situ- 
ated in  the  same  place,  and  in 
prayer  use  the  same  entreaty  he  did, 
and  thus  make  the  Manger-cradle 
the  Cross  and  the  Resurrection  all 
one  with  the  present  in  an  Eternal 
NOW,  for  Truth  is  unchangeable — 
IT  IS. 

Since  Truth  is  unfolding  itself 
through  human  conceptions,  when 
we  think  of  our  heaven  we  are 
thinking  the  same  Truth  which  Je- 
sus thought.  Why  then  try  to  trans- 
late his  thought  into  our  thought  by 
using  his  words?  Rather  let  us,  in 
his  spirit  of  freedom  from  author- 
ity, translate  his  spirit  into  the  lan- 
guage of  today  and  use  the  prayer 
thus :  * '  Our  Father  who  art  Love. ' ' 
When  we  will  use  his  words  with 
this  meaning  we  will  pray  his 
prayer,  not  because  Jesus  authoriz- 
ed it,  but  because  we  have  found 
within  ourself  the  same  realization, 
i.  e.:  "Love  is  the  fulfilling  of  the 
Law".  He  who  is  Love,  hath  no 
need  of  formal  prayer. 


34 


For  Right  is  Right  since  God  is  God, 
And  right  the  day  must  win! 

To  doubt  would  be   disloyalty, 
To  falter  would  be  sin. 

—Old  Hymn. 


We  are  no  aliens  in  a  stranger  universe 
governed  by  an  outside  God;  we  are  parts 
of  a  developing  whole,  all  enfolded  in  an 
embracing  interpenetrating  love,  of  which 
we  too,  each  to  the  other,  sometimes  ex- 
perience a  joy  too  deep  for  words.  And 
this  strengthening  vision,  this  sense  of  un- 
ion with  Divinity,  this,  and  not  anything 
artificial  or  legal  or  commercial,  is  what 
science  will  some  day  tell  us  is  the  inner 
meaning  of  the  Redemption  of  Man. — Sir 
Oliver  Lodge. 


If   I    would   pray,    I've   nought   to    say, 
But  this— May  God  be   God  still! 

For  Him  to  live,  is  still  to  give 
And  sweeter  than  my  wish  His  will. 
—David  A.  Watson. 

35 


At  night  my  gladness  is  my  prayer! 

I  drop  my  daily  load! 
And  every  care  is  pillowed  there — 

Upon  my  thought  of  God! 

— F.  L.  Hosmcr. 


LL  that  seek  religion  are  in 
search  of  communion  with  God. 
What  is  between  him  and  thee? 
Nothing  but  thyself!  Each  can  have 
what  inspiration  each  will  take.  God 
is  continually  giving;  he  will  not  with- 
hold from  you  or  me.  As  much  ability  as 
he  has  given,  as  much  as  you  have  en- 
larged your  talent  by  manly  use,  so  much 
will  he  fill  with  inspiration.  I  hold  up  my 
little  cup.  He  fills  it  full.  If  yours  is 
greater,  rejoice  in  that,  and  bring  it  faith- 
fully to  the  same  urn.  He  who  fills  the 
violet  with  beauty,  and  the  sun  with  light, 
who  gave  Homer  his  song,  and  such  reason 
to  Aristotle,  and  to  Jesus  such  manly  gifts 
of  justice  and  the  womanly  grace  of  love 
and  faith  in  Him — will  not  fail  to  inspire 
you  and  me.  Were  your  little  cup  to 
become  as  large  as  the  Pacific  Ocean  he 
still  would  fill  it. — Theodore  Parker. 

36 


"HALLOWED  BE  THY  NAME!" 

ZN  primeval  times  among  all  peo- 
ple it  was  believed,  and  today 
it  is  believed,  that  behind 
each  phenomenon  was  a  god. 
That  god  was  feared.  In  all 
dealings  with  it,  they  had 
more  or  less  extended  ceremo- 
nial rites.  They  brought  gifts  to 
placate  him,  and  they  "called  upon 
his  name!"  They  reverenced  the 
name  and  hallowed  it. 
Two  methods  of  using  the  name 
were  common  then,  and  are  more  or 
less  common  today.  One  was  incan- 
tation; the  other  was  repetition. 
In  the  "witch  scene "  in  Macbeth  is 
perpetuated  the  thought  of  incanta- 
tion. In  all  our  prayers  is  perpetu- 
ated that  of  invocation. 
A  common  method  of  calling  upon 
the  god,  of  obtaining  favors,  was  a 
constant  repetition  of  the  name  until 
the  devotee  would  have  some  form 

37 


of  ecstacy.  This  was  accepted  as 
a  sign  of  the  favor  of  the  gods. 
Among  the  Eoman  oracles,  especi- 
ally at  Delphos,  the  sibyl  inhaled 
mephitic  vapors  and  went  into  con- 
vulsions, and  her  ravings  from  this 
were  the  oracles.  Juices  of  plants, 
wine,  opiates  and  narcotics,  odors 
and  burned  incense,  have  all  been 
used  in  the  Name  and  to  hallow  the 
Name. 

With  the  exception  of  incense,  twi- 
light and  garb,  the  methods  of  in- 
cantation have  passed  away  in  civil- 
ized lands  from  the  ordinary  wor- 
shiper. 

But  invocation  remains  and  will 
ever  remain,  for  it  is  the  one  univer- 
sal method  of  approaching  commu- 
nion with  the  Unseen. 
To  hold  in  mind  reverently  the  name 
of  their  God,  to  repeat  the 
name  mentally  of  their  Great  God, 
their  One  God,  was  a  habit  of  the 
ancient  Hebrews.  That  Name  was 
never  spoken;  it  was  "  hallo  wed " 
by  silent  meditations.  All  other 


names  might  be  spoken,  but  THE 
name  was  never  vocalized.  Wheth- 
er this  was  the  NAME  that  Jesus, 
the  young  Jew,  meant,  is  not  possi- 
ble for  us  to  know.  The  name  by 
which  God  is  called  in  the  prayer  is 
1 1  Father. "  "Hallowed  be  thy 
Name!"  could  well  mean  the  name 
which  we  think  and  feel  of  Grod 
but  never  speak. 

There  is  a  wisdom  in  this  thought. 
The  moment  we  name,  we  define, 
and  to  define  is  to  limit.  The  Limit- 
less One  can  neither  be  named  nor 
defined.  IT  IS! 

But  wherever  there  is  a  name  to 
speak,  it  has  been  held  that  by  re- 
peating that  name,  petitions  would 
receive  answers. 

We  are  told  in  the  New  Testament 
of  some  who  "They  think  they 
shall  be  heard  for  their  much 
speaking !"  and  their  words  are 
called  "vain  repetitions." 
A  common  habit  for  mystics  of  all 
classes  is  to  use  names  and  formulas 
in  all  sacred  rites.  The  common 

39 


people  adopt  this  method  from 
them.  "Swear  not  at  all,"  said 
Jesus,  for  the  oath  is  "hallowing," 
reverencing,  placing  faith  in,  the 
Name. 

We  have  a  survival  of  this  method 
of  formula  and  repetitions  in  the 
"Prayer  Book"  wherein  the  Name 
is  hallowed  not  only  in  word  but 
also  by  a  genuflection  whenever  the 
Name  is  read. 

The  power  of  the  Name  rises  from 
the  One  Law  of  Life — Suggestion. 
Some  cults  have  adopted  the  Hin- 
doo word  as  the  Name  by  which 
to  invoke  spiritual  receptivity, 
sit  in  silence,  repeating  the  word 
"Om!"  and  thus  pass  into  a  sort 
of  ecstacy. 

Tennyson  tells  us  that  he  used  his 
own  name  by  repetition,  and  passed 
into  that  condition  of  inspiration 
whence  he  wrote.  In  his  poem  ' i  The 
Ancient  Sage,"  he  says: 

.     .     .     For  more  than  once  when  I 
Sat  all  alone,  revolving  in  myself 
The  word  that  was  the  symbol  of  myself, 
The  mortal  limit  of  the  Self  was  loosed 

40 


And  passed  into  the  Nameless  as  a  cloud 
Melts   into   heaven. 

And  in  a  letter  published  in  his 
"Memoirs,"  he  says  of  this  state: 

It  is  not  a  confused  state,  but  the  clearest 
of  the  clearest,  the  surest  of  the  surest,  the 
wisest  of  the  wisest,  utterly  beyond  words. 

Using  his  own  name  upon  which  to 
concentrate,  he  reached  through  it 
the  same  condition  others  reach  by 
other  names  and  by  other  methods. 
The  Hindoo  Masters,  the  Greek  and 
Roman  priests  and  sibyls,  Egyptian 
hiereophants,  German  mystics,  Chi- 
nese and  Japanese  wizards,  and 
European  gypsies,  the  converts  in 
the  revival,  the  spiritualist  medium 
in  her  seance,  the  Christian  Science 
and  the  New  Thought  healer;  all 
follow  one  law,  and  each  by  his  own 
method  reach  the  same  condition. 
All  work  under  the  same  principles 
of  Auto-Suggestion  and  Concentra- 
tion; upon  the  Law  of  Suggestion. 
The  methods  vary  with  the  age,  cul- 
ture and  intelligence  of  the  people, 
but  the  Principle  and  the  Spirit  is 
one.  This  to  me  is  a  glorious  evi- 

41 


dence  of  the  Unity  of  Cause,  and  of 
the  Oneness  of  Humanity. 

"One   God,  one   Law,  one   Element, 

And  one  Divine,  far-off  event 

Toward  which  the  whole  creation  moves!" 

Age  after  age,  no  matter  where 
man  has  been  or  what  he  has  done, 
it  has  always  been  the  same  human- 
ity seeking  consciousness  of  the 
One  Power  by  the  same  spiritual 
urge.  Ever  formulating  his  desire 
in  words  and  rites,  and  giving  him- 
self a  Name  by  which  he  could 
rise  into  a  condition  superior  to  his 
ordinary  one,  through  concentra- 
tion, meditation  and  worship.  Ev- 
ery man  has  "  hallowed "  some 
Name. 

No  matter  where  he  is,  he  is  still 
"  hallo  wing  "  that  Name  which  is  to 
him  the  symbol  of  Power. 
Desire  made  itself  manifest  in  the 
cave  man  and  has  continued  to  push 
him  outward  in  power  and  intelli- 
gence, but  he  "hallows"  the  name 
of  his  God  today  and  reverences 
names,  as  the  cave  man  did. 
As  the  heathen  reverenced  the  name 

42 


of  his  gods  of  earth,  wood  or  stone, 
so  man  still  "in  his  blindness  bows 
down"  to  the  gods  of  his  creation 
as  did  man  in  the  primeval  wilder- 
ness. What  names  he  had  then,  we 
do  not  know.  Most  likely  they  were 
born  of  Fear.  Today  thousands 
hallow  the  names  of  Hebrew  proph- 
ets and  of  Jesus,  but  others  hallow 
the  names  of  Mother  Ann,  of  Wes- 
ley, Calvin,  Mrs.  Eddy,  Lincoln, 
Washington,  Edison.  Energy  and 
Materialism  has  its  god,  which  it 
names — Matter.  But  no  doubt  the 
most  hallowed  name  of  all  is — 
Mother.  Each  of  these  names  serve 
to  bear  outward  the  aspirations  of 
the  Soul,  helping  the  devotee  to  a 
higher  plane  of  thought  and  feeling. 
Always,  to  each  person,  no  matter 
what  intellectually  he  is,  when  he 
thinks  holily,  it  is  prayer. 

"Sweet    hour    of    prayer!      Sweet   hour   of 

prayer; 
Thy  wings  shall  my  petition  bear!" 

When  "NOW"  Folk  sing  this  at 
our  grove  meetings,  we  are  only  do- 
ing that  which  our  earliest  ances- 

43 


tors  under  primeval  trees  did  be- 
fore us.  They  had  what  to  us  was 
unseemly  song  and  obscene  rite,  but 
what  they  did  was  "  hallowed "  to 
the  name  of  the  god,  and  was  sacred 
therefore. 

It  was  a  wonderful  advance  in  the 
evolution  of  prayer  when  Jesus 
gave  this  one.  He  surpassed  all 
teachers  who  preceded  him.  He  gave 
us  intellectual  freedom.  This 
wionderful  fact  has  been  over- 
looked by  all  commentators  on  the 
New  Testament.  He  threw  away 
the  old  Mosaic  code  and  said, 
"But  I  say  unto  you!"  He  told  his 
listeners  that  the  First  and  the 
Great  Commandment  was  "Love 
thy  God!"  He  did  not  worship  the 
Name  of  the  Old  Testament.  The 
Hebrew  had  not  prayed  to  "The 
Father!"  Jesus  did  not  say  "Hal- 
lowed be  the  .Name  of  the  Hebrew 
God!"  Since  there  were  Greeks, 
Komans  and  men  of  other  nations 
among  his  listeners  he  did  not  say 
to  them  "Hallowed  be  the  Name 

44 


of  the  Roman!  Hallowed  be  the 
Name  of  the  Greek!  Hallowed  be  the 
Name  of  the  Gentile!  God." 
No!  His  word  "Thy"  leaves  each  in- 
dividual free  to  form  his  own  con- 
ception of  the  Nameless.  If  formed 
from  Jesus'  Ideal  it  will  be  formed 
of  Love. 

This  Freedom  which  he  taught,  has 
been  obscured  by  those  who  could 
not  grow  into  "the  liberty  of  the 
Sons  of  God ' '  and  come  to  think  for 
themselves.  Ecclesiastical  authority 
has  said:  "Worship  our  god.  Not 
thy  God  but  my  god  thunders  the 
priest. "  But  the  word  "Thy"  es- 
tablishes the  era  of  religious  and 
intellectual  Freedom.  It  has  taken 
two  thousand  years  to  see  it  partial- 
ly materialize,  but  Truth  does 
prevail  and  now  the  Vision  has 
come.  To  each  we  say  "Worship 
Thy  God!"  no  matter  if  the  Name 
is  spelled  "Force,"  whom  the  mak- 
er of  that  God  worships  in  work  in 
his  laboratory  or  in  field,  we  honor 
him. 

45 


All  men  must  hallow  the  "  Power 
behind  Phenomena!"  Each  must 
Name  it.  And  the  Name  is  that  of 
the  God  they  hallow.  In  no  one 
phase  of  the  prayer  do  I  find  equal 
inspiration  or  read  more  reverently 
than  I  do  "  Hallowed  by  thy  name ! ' ' 
For  in  its  utterance  I  am  one  with 
all  the  race.  I  fe6l  the  religious 
expression  of  all  time. 
Each  person  must  of  necessity  read 
into  the  words  his  conception  of 
God.  His  Thought  will  give  shape 
to  the  conception  of  the  Power  he 
hallows.  I  find  the  following 
thought  of  Kev.  F.  C.  Hosrner  fine 
for  contemplation: 

One  Thought  I  have  my  only  creed, 

So  deep  it  is  and  broad, 
So  equal  to  my  every  need; 

It  is  my  thought  of  God. 
At  eve  my  gladness  is  my  prayer; 

I   drop   in   love   my   load, 
And  every  care  is  pillowed  there, 

Upon  my  thought  of  God. 
I   ask   not  far  before   to   see, 

But  take   with  joy   my   road; 
Life,    death   and   immortality, 

Are  in  my  Thought  of  God! 

Our  "Thought  of  God"  is  our  ideal. 

46 


When  we  follow  that  we  are  hal- 
lowing the  Name.  As  Tennyson 
so  finely  has  it:  "We  follow  the 
gleam ! J 9 

Not   of   the    sunlight, 
Not  of  the  moonlight. 
Not   of   the    starlight! 
Oh,   young  mariner, 
Down  to  the  haven 
Call    your   companions, 
Launch    your    vessel, 
And  crowd  the   canvas, 
And   ere   it   vanishes, 
Over  the  margin, 
After   it,   follow   it, 
Follow  the  gleam. 

And  since  my  conception  of  God  is 
my  Ideal  of  the  Good,  the  Beauti- 
ful and  the  True,  the  prayer  "Hal- 
lowed be  thy  name"  means  to  me, 
"Follow  thy  ideal,  follow  the 
gleam ! '  >  And  as  all  men  have  done 
this,  from  savage  to  savant,  and 
morally  from  Cain  to  Lincoln,  so 
when  I  "follow  the  Gleam "  I  sim- 
ply follow  that  which  all  men  have 
followed  and  which  they  ever  will 
follow. 

But  they  had  not  the  freedom  in 
making  or  in  following  that  I  have 

47 


and  no  man  had  till  Jesus  said 
"Love  the  Lord,  thy  God!"  Since 
then  that  thought  of  Freedom 
has  been  evolving  till  we  have 
ideally  our  perfect  religious  freedom 
which  some  time  will  also  be  per- 
fect in  expression.  Then  each  man 
will  have  his  own  church,  will  be 
his  own  priest  and  write  his  own 
Bible.  But  no  matter  how  much  he 
shall  evolve  in  the  expression  of 
this  Freedom,  he  will  never  get  be- 
yond the  utterances  of  Jesus.  When 
we  really  pray  in  sincere  desire,  we 
are  one  with  Jesus,  and  with  all  men, 
good  or  bad,  that  ever  aspired  for 
an  ideal  beyond  today's  expression. 
I  shall  continue  to  pray  "Hallowed 
be  Thy  Name, ' '  uniting  my  petition 
with  that  of  all  my  fellows  around 
the  whole  circle  of  the  earth.  But 
I  shall  always  think  of  the  One  for 
whom  all  names  stand,  the  One  in 
whom  is  no  good  or  evil,  and  in 
whom 

There  is  no  great  or  small 
For  He  is  the  ALL-IN-ALL. 


48 


Behold,  the  Holy  Grail  is   found — 
Found  in  yon  poppy's  cup  of  gold; 
And  God  walks  with  us  of  old; 
Behold,  the  burning  bush  still  burns 
For  man  whichever  way  he  turns, 
And  all  God's  earth  is  holy  ground. 

— Joaquin  Miller. 


Breathe  "God,"  in  any  tongue — it  means  the 

same; 
Love  Absolute:     Think,  feel,  absorb  the 

thought; 
Shut  out  all  else;  until  a  subtle  flame 

(A    spark    from      God's      creative    center 

caught) 

Shall  permeate  your  being,  and  shall  glow, 
Increasing  in  its  splendor,  till  You  Know. 

Not  in  a  moment,  or  an  hour,  or  day 

The  knowledge  comes;  the  power  is  far 

too  great 
To  win  in  any  desultory  way. 

No  soul  is  worthy  till  it  learns  to  wait. 
Day  after  day  be  patient,  then,  oh,  soul; 
Month  after  month — till,  lo!   the   goal!  the 
goal! 

—Ella  Wheeler  Wilcox. 


49 


O,    clothe    us    with    Thy   heavenly    armor, 

Thy   trusty    shield!    Thy   sword   of   Love 

Divine! 
Our  inspiration  be  Thy  constant  word! 

We  ask  no  victories  that  are  not   ihinel 
Give  or  withhold,  let  pain  or  pleasure  be, 
Enough  to  know  that  we  are  serving  1  nee 
—John   White   Chadwick. 


No  longer  forward  or  behind 

I  look  in  hope  or  fear; 
But  grateful,  take  the  good  I  find, 

The  best  of  Now  and  Here. 

Amid  the  maddening  maze  of  things 
And  tossed  by  storm  and  flood, 

To  one  fixed  trust  my  spirit  clings: 
I  know  that  God  is  good! 

I  know  not  where  His  islands  lift 
Their  fronded  palms  in  air, 

I  only  know,  I  cannot  drift 
Beyond  his  love  and  care! 

— Whittier. 


50 


"THY  KINGDOM  COME!" 

aNITY  of  the  race  must  be  his 
position  who  would  understand 
the  phenomena  of  the  race. 
Mankind  is  one.  "One  mind 
common  to  all  men!"  and  there 
is  also  a  common  ground 
upon  which  all  men  may 
meet.  Be  he  king  or  peasant;  phil- 
osopher or  fool;  saint  or  sinner; 
chaste  husband  or  libertine;  black 
or  brown;  white  or  yellow;  they  all 
meet  on  the  common  ground  of  the 
emotions.  All  mankind  FEEL  alike. 
Passions  are  kin  no  matter  where 
found.  Man  is  primarily  sensation. 
The  differentiation  into  race  and 
class  is  not  nature's  primary  classi- 
fication. Her  method  is  a  question 
of  more  or  less,  a  question  of  de- 
gree; of  intensity.  The  differentia- 
tion into  classes,  races  and  sects 
rises  in  the  intellectual  ability  to 
translate  feeling  into  the  symbols 

51 


of  the  external  life.  Of  the  phenom- 
ena of  the  whole  race  can  be  affrm- 
ed — it  is  an  expression  of  what  the 
individuals  feel. 

Spencer  says:  "The  chief  compo- 
nent of  mind  is  feeling  .  .  . 
Mind  properly  interpreted  is  co- 
extensive with  consciousness;  all 
parts  of  consciousness  are  parts  of 
mind.  Sensations  and  emotions  are 
parts  of  consciousness  and  so  far 
from  being  its  minor  components 
are  its  major  components.  The  body 
even  of  our  thought — consciousness 
— consists  of  feeling,  and  only  the 
form  constitutes  what  we  denomi- 
nate intelligence.  No  movement  is 
made  but  it  is  preceded  by  a 
prompting  feeling.  The  over-valu- 
ation of  intelligence  has  for  its  con- 
comitant the  under-valuation  of  the 
emotional  nature/' 
And  Helen  Keys  says:  "The  con- 
scious conditions  of  the  soul  are  de- 
termined by  the  emotions— reduced 
for  the  moment  to  unconsciousness; 
emotions  which  are  forgotten  in  the 

52 


hour  of  fulfillment,  are  not  there- 
fore less  decisive. " 
In  this  thought  of  Unity  can  we 
alone  understand  this  prayer.  Ee- 
membering  that  it  is  the  utterance 
of  an  emotion,  we  also  feel  we  can 
not  only  pray  it,  with  every  denomi- 
nation in  Christendom,  but  we  can 
also  pray  with  every  man  in  any 
clime,  and  in  any  form  of  worship. 
It  was  this  recognition  that  caused 
Whitman  to  say: 

I  do  not  despise  you  priests,  all  time,  the 

world   over, 
My  faith  is  the  greatest  of  faiths,  and  the 

least  of  faiths, 
Enclosing  worship  ancient  and  modern  and 

all    between    ancient    and    modern. 

It  is  the  lack  of  the  recognition  of 
unity  in  emotion,  and  thus  relegat- 
ing religion  to  the  realm  of  the  in- 
tellect, that  has  caused  all  the  sec- 
tarian wars.  Religion  has  been 
made  a  creed,  and  not  a  reality. 
Whitman  saw  this  also  and  made 
Religion  a  Principle  above  the  oth- 
er two  which  formed  the  triune  base 
of  his  philosophy.  He  says: 

53 


For  you  to  share  with  me  two  greatnesses, 
and  a  third  one  rising  inclusive  and  more 
resplendent, 

The  Greatness  of  Love  and  Democracy,  and 
the  greatness  of  Religion. 

We  in  this  Vision  of  the  Lord's 
Prayer  will  not  confound,  in  our 
reasoning,  Theology  with  Religion. 
We  will  not  care  for  creed,  rite  and 
symbol,  but  will  look  for,  find  and 
enjoy  with  ALL  men  the  principle 
which  is  voicing  itself  through  them 
all.  Heber  Newton  gave  a  fine  def- 
inition when  he  said:  "Religion  is 
what  a  man  FEELS  toward  God; 
theology  what  he  thinks  of  him!" 
We  will  go  back  in  our  thought  from 
two  thousand  to  five  thousand  years 
and  try  to  FEEL  with  the  ancient 
Hebrew  and  with  the  Young  He- 
brew who  gave  his  listener  this 
prayer. 

In  unison  with  men  of  all  time  and 
all  climes,  he  and  they  felt  as  they 
looked  upon  the  natural  phenomena 
about  them,  and  especially  as  they 
gazed  into  the  depths  above  which 
stood  for  them  the  symbol  of  Deity 

54 


even  as  the  sun  so  stands  today  for 
the  Parsee.  What  they  felt  I  felt 
as  I  stood  in  our  mountain  home 
recently  and  gazed  at  the  stars,  and 
repeated  with  Whitman: 

When  we  become  the  enfolders  of  those 
orbs  and  the  pleasure  and  the  knowledge 
of  everything  in  them,  shall  we  be  filled 
and  satisfied  then? 

And  my  spirit  said,  No!  we  but  level  that 
lift  to  pass  and  continue  beyond. 

He  put  the  emotion  into  his  words. 
The  ancient  Hebrew  into  his.  Lan- 
guage consists  of  symbols;  first  of 
tones  and  then  of  marks,  as  signs 
of  and  to  express  thoughts,  which 
are  translations  of  emotions.  We 
should  feel,  would  we  read  these 
symbols  rightly  the  emotions  for 
which  they  are  forms.  The  Emo- 
tions are,  as  Spencer  says,  "the 
body,"  the  thought  and  language 
but  "the  forms "  under  which  the 
individual  attempts  to  express  to 
the  intelligence  of  others  what  he 
has  felt  and  to  awaken  in  him  the 
like  emotion. 

Entering  now  ourselves  the  syna- 
55 


gogue  with  the  Hebrew — with  Je- 
sus— let  us  pray!  He  says  "Our 
Father."  Beside  him  a  Syrian, 
who  utters  a  name  we  do  not  recog- 
nize. An  Egyptian  who  says  ' '  Osi- 
ris and  Isis."  A  Phoenecian,  who 
says  "Astoroth."  A  Roman,  who 
says  '  '  Jupiter. '  >  A  Greek,  who  says 
"Zeus."  You  may  say  "God,"  and 
I  may  say  "Love."  We  will  place 
in  our  temple,  not  built  with  hands, 
but  eternal  in  Thought,  one  person 
of  every  nation  under  heaven.  Each 
will  feel  as  we  feel,  and  each  will 
pray  to  his  conception  of  the  Un- 
seen Power:  "The  Unknown  God" 
of  Paul. 

"Pray  to  the  Lord  THY  god  with 
all  thy  heart,  soul  and  mind ! ' '  Jesus 
has  said  to  them.  Here  each  prays 
with  his  heart  first — his  emotions — 
then  with  his  mind,  his  intellect — 
and  then  with  his  will.  All  these 
prayers  unite  in  one  strong  cord  in 
Spirit — in  Emotions — Unite,  while 
the  tone-symbols  in  language  of  the 
emotions  die. 

56 


We  will  enter  the  mind  of  the  He- 
brew bowing  beside  us  and  seek 
why  he  prays,  "May  thy  kingdom 
come ! ' ' 

Desire  is  prayer.  He  desires  good 
things.  He  desires  peace  within  his 
nation.  Prosperity  and  position.  All 
that  a  king  can  give. 
Remember,  the  height  of  external 
government  was  then  a  kingdom. 
And  among  the  Hebrews  a  theoc- 
racy where  the  king  was  the  chosen 
of  God.  Selected  by  God  and  rep- 
resented God  as  the  Pope  today  is 
held  by  his  church  to  be  God  reign- 
ing upon  earth,.  The  Hebrew  na- 
tion then  considered  their  king  as 
God  in  the  flesh.  God  "on  earth! " 
"May  thy  kingdom  come!"  meant 
to  him,  "Wilt  thou  as  king  so  rule 
that  all  my  desires  for  good,  happi- 
ness and  prosperity  may  be  grati- 
fied ?"  All  that  a  citizen  of  an 
autocratic  government  could  ask  of 
his  sovereign  was  asked  by  the  He- 
brew at  our  side.  It  was  asked,  and 
is  asked,  by  every  person  who  ut- 

57 


ters  a  petition  for  good. 
Ignorant  of  natural  law  he  believed 
that  his  God  was  an  autocrat  who 
could,  when  he  choose,  do  anything. 
He  could  hand  from  this  store  to 
him  that  which  he  asked  for  as  eas- 
ily as  he  himself  could  hand  from 
his  purse  the  shekel  he  gave  the 
priest  for  the  temple  service. 
But  the  important  thing  for  us  is 
the  emotion  from  which  the  petition 
sprang.  He  is  sincere.  He  feels 
what  he  prays.  He  expects  his 
prayer  to  be  answered.  He  looks 
to  the  external,  forgetting:  "God  is 
spirit,  and  they  who  worship  him 
must  worship  in  spirit  and  in 
truth."  The  answer  must  also  come 
from  a  spiritual  Being,  must  be  a 
spiritual  answer.  I  said  "Forget- 
ting. ' '  He  had  never  recognized  this. 
The  Thought  of  God,  Man  and  Na- 
ture had  not  so  far  evolved.  So  he 
prayed  on  his  plane  of  intelligence, 
but  on  the  universal  plane  of  emo- 
tion. 
Yes;  I  know  that  form  has  often 

58 


usurped  the  place  of  spirit  in  wor- 
ship. The  Prayer-book  satisfies  the 
emotion,  for  the  intellect  has  in  its 
development  set  bounds  to  emotion. 
"They  that  love  me  will  keep  my 
commandments ! "  Love  is  the  su- 
preme emotion.  And  when  Love  is 
felt,  the  commandment  is  kept  by 
necessity.  The  forms  are  observed 
today  through  duty,  fear  or  less 
honorable  motives.  But  this  is  not 
prayer. 

The  best  definition  is  Emerson's: 

Prayer  is  contemplating  the  facts  of  life 
from  the  highest  point  of  view.  It  is  the 
soliloquy  of  a  beholding  and  jubilant  soul. 

Prayer  is  therefore  one  talking  to 
the  Ideal  within  himself. 
It  is  expressing  a  desire,  in  his  own 
symbols,  for  that  which  he  deems 
the  best  for  him  in  his  own  life. 
You  and  I  will  join  all  who  pray 
not  only  once  a  week,  but  at  all 
hours  of  the  day  for  we  will  FEEL 
"May  the  ALL-Good  be  manifest 
here  and  now. ' '  This  is  to  me  what 
Jesus  felt,  what  his  desire  was.  It 


is  what  all  feel  who  sincerely  utter 
these  words.  But  since  it  is  not  our 
business  to  feel  for  others,  or  even 
to  surmise,  and  much  less  to  sus- 
pect others  of  ulterior  or  unworthy 
motives,  we  will  pray  as  he  prayed 
who  saw  in  brightest  Vision  the 
world  redeemed.  Who  carried  about 
with  him  the  radiance  of  an  illu- 
mined Soul.  Whose  radiations  were 
so  potent  that  they  healed  those 
whom  he  touched  or  who  in  the 
crowd  touched  him.  Who,  when  he 
departed  from  his  friends,  said:— 
"My  peace  I  give  unto  you!"  Be- 
cause he  was  peace,  and  the  King- 
dom had  come  to  him  and  he  was 
conscious  of  it,  did  he  leave  peace. 
We  will  seek  not  with  words,  but  in 
unexpressed  thought,  and  with  all 
the  feeling  that  caused  the  thought 
in  him  to  pray  establishing  his  de- 
sire for  the  All-Good  to  come  as  a 
Principle  of  life.  "May  thy  king- 
dom come ! ' '  will  be  our  words  while 
we  hold  the  Vision  of  today.  We 
know  as  far  as  the  One  is  concerned, 

60 


as  far  as  Law  is,  and  as  far  as  Truth 
and  Love  are,  that  kingdom  is.  It 
is  only  waiting  for  us  to  pray  sin- 
cerely, believing  that  it  is  for  us 
to  be  conscious  of  it.  When  thus 
conscious  of  it  it  has  come  to  me. 
Through  prayer  I  become  receptive 
to  its  expression. 

From  the  same  spirit  and  from  the 
same  Vision  in  which  Jesus  formu- 
lated the  prayer  for  the  Hebrew  of 
his  time  we  will  formulate  ours  for 
today.  I  love  the  Good,  the  Beauti- 
ful and  the  True.  With  all  my  love 
I  desire  these  to  manifest  in  all  my 
conduct.  I  let  in  Love  and  Truth 
that  the  Power  of  the  One  be  made 
manifest  in  and  through  me. 
My  every  thought,  my  every  emo- 
tion, is  a  race  impulse;  is  a  radia- 
tion from  me  as  a  center  outward, 
filling,  as  a  ray  of  sun,  the  spiritual 
universe.  It  is  helping  mould  the 
future.  My  every  prayer  makes  the 
race  more  religious.  My  every  throb 
of  love  makes  the  race  more  hu- 
mane. Emerson  says: 

61 


The  loneliest  thought,  the  purest  prayer  is 
rushing  to  be  the  history  of  a  thousand 
years. 

When  I  pray  "May  thy  kingdom 
come!"  I  am  talking  to  the  King  I 
am,  as  " Conscious  Law,"  for  the 
"Kingdom  of  God  is  within"  and 
the  King  of  that  kingdom  is  the 
Conscious  Human  soul.  Thus  am  I, 
as  king,  giving  orders  to  all  the 
forces  of  the  Kingdom  of  God,  to 
carry  out  my  desires,  and  they  obey. 
Thus  am  I  helping  to  bind  the  feet 
of  earth  to  the  throne  of  the  Ideal, 
when  I  in  sincerity  pray  for  the 
Good.  I  am  binding  myself  to  igno- 
rance and  loss  when  I  will  not  help 
on  the  evolution  of  Mind,  through 
my  desire  for  Goodness.  I  can  in- 
crease the  amount  of  intelligence 
and  good  on  earth,  but  I  cannot  les- 
sen it.  I  may  refuse  to  consciously 
add  to  the  world's  stock  of  good- 
ness and  wisdom,  but  I  cannot  di- 
minish it.  The  good  I  develop  in 
myself  helps  the  world.  The  good 
I  will  not  express  is  my  loss.  I  take 
none  from  others.  I  would  have 

62 


every  man  pray,  "May  thy  king- 
dom come ! ' '  for  by  this  prayer  he  is 
helping  the  evolution  in  the  race  of 
the  Ideal  of  all  that  is  manly  and 
good  and  true.  A  modern  poet, 
Angelia  Morgan,  in  a  recent  poem 
has  given  utterance  to  this  thought 
finely: 

I  ask  no  truce,  I  have  no  qualms, 
I   seek  no  quarter  and  no   alms. 
Let  they  who  will,  obey  the  sod. 
My  soul  sprang  from  the  Living  God. 
'Tis   I,  the   King,  who  bids  thee  stand 
Grasp  with  thy  hand  my  royal  hand! 
Stand   forth! 


If,  when  the  Spirit  and  the  Bride  say  Come! 
I  yet  be  found  lingering  by  the  way, 
Even  as  I  linger  while  it  is  today, 
Wait    thou,    my    God!    although    I    journey 

from 

My  home  on  earth  and  from  thy  other  home, 
I  will  remember  at  the  last,  and  say: 
Thou  who  wast  near  when  I  was  far  away, 
Take    me:      the    Spirit   and    the    Bride    say 

Come!  — Arthur  Symons. 


Embosomed  deep  in  thy  dear  love, 
Held  by  Thy  law  I  stand; 

Thy  hand  in  all  things  I  behold, 
And  all  things  in  Thy  hand. 

— Samuel  Longfellow. 


"Not  as  I  will";  the  sound  grows  sweet 
Each  time  my  lips  the  words  repeat. 
"Not  as  I  will";  the  darkness  feels 
More    safe    than    light   when      this    thought 

steals 

Like  whispered  voice  to  calm  and  bless 
All  unrest  and  all  loneliness. 
"Not  as  I  will";  because  the  One 
Who  loved  us  first  and  best,  has  gone 
Before  us  on  the  road,  and  still 
For  us  must  all  his  love  fulfill! 
"NOT  AS  I  WILL"! 

— Helen  Hunt  Jackson. 


64 


"THY  WILL  BE  DONE!" 

ZN   a   previous    essay    I    have 
spoken  of  the  attitude  of  the 
ancient    Hebrew     toward     the 
Buler  of  the  Universe.     It  is  that 
of  the  petitioner  toward  an  auto- 
cratic king. 

He  may  petition  and  plead,  but  he 
cannot  dictate.  After  his  petition 
he  must  await,  and  accept,  the  de- 
cision of  the  Autocrat. 
In  this  prayer  we  have  the  petition 
"May  thy  Kingdom  come!"  May 
all  the  good  I  desire  be  given  me 
because  you  are  king  and  can  give 
it.  Then  necessarily  we  have  the 
willingness  to  accept  the  decision 
of  the  Supreme  Power  and  the  ex- 
pression of  loyal  submission  to  his 
will  as  expressed  in  that  decision. 
No  nation  had  at  this  time  any  con- 
ception of  what  we  now  know  as 
Law,  as  Causation,  and  the  Hebrew 
much  less  than  even  the  surround- 
66 


ing  nations,  and  philosophy  then 
was  based  upon  the  conception  of 
one  arbitrary  power  which  had  the 
authority  not  alone  over  life  and 
death  of  his  subjects,  but  also  over 
the  armies  of  heaven  and  all  the 
powers  of  earth.  No  matter  what 
his  desire,  Jehovah  could  order  it 
done. 

Could  the  petitioner  make  Jehovah 
understand,  or  if  the  heavenly  king 
saw  that  it  was  best  so  to  do,  he 
could  stop  the  sun  in  mid  heaven, 
as  he  had  at  the  prayer  of  Joshua. 
Nothing  was  impossible  with  God. 
No  matter  what  the  decision  of  the 
God  to  whom  a  prayer  had  been 
presented,  that  decision  was  to  be 
accepted,  and  the  human  will  was 
to  be  resigned  to  the  Divine  will. 
To  win  this  Divine  will,  sacrifices 
were  made.  All  sorts  of  specula- 
tions were  indulged  as  to  what 
would  please  the  god,  to  whom  the 
petition  was  offered.  The  Hebrew 
at  this  time  believed  his  God  en- 
joyed the  smoke  and  scent  of  burn- 

66 


ing  animals,  and  the  sight  of  blood. 
He  had  outgrown  the  thought  of 
human  sacrifice,  though  it  died 
hard,  as  is  illustrated  in  the  accept- 
ed sacrifice  of  Isaac. 

Surrounding  nations  at  that  time 
still  had  the  human  sacrifices. 
A  fine  illustration  of  this  belief 
among  our  ancestors  is  in  Tenny- 
son's poem,  "The  Victim". 
This  idea  of  human  sacrifice  under- 
lies the  evangelical  conception  of 
the  death  of  Jesus  on  the  cross.  It 
was  "A  sacrifice "— and,  to  the  de- 
votee, a  more  than  human  sacrifice. 
This  is  a  perpetuation  of,  and  an 
exaggeration  of,  the  earlier  idea  of 
human  sacrifice.  In  this  case  a  god 
is  sacrificed  as  a  propitiation  to 
God  for  the  sins  of  man,  "sacri- 
ficed to  satisfy  God's  wrath." 
Slowly  ancient  ideas  die  out  in  dis- 
solving views,  into  the  new  concep- 
tions of  a  more  highly  developed 
people.  No  entirely  new  thing;  no 
entirely  new  conception.  Slowly 
the  new  extends  its  borders,  so  that 

67 


it  occupies  the  territory  of  the  pre- 
vious conception,  as  a  nation  may 
gradually  occupy  the  territory  of  its 
neighbor. 

The  conception  that  Baal  must  be 
satisfied  with  the  blood  of  humans, 
and  Moloch  with  the  lives  of  chil- 
dren; Jehovah  must  have  the  blood 
of  doves,  rams,  sheep  and  goats; 
was  modified  later  to  that  of  one 
Supreme  sacrifice  on  the  Cross.  Yet 
Hebrew  prophets  had  said,  "Our 
God  does  not  require  this;  all  he 
asks  is  a  humble  and  contrite 
heart. M  It  has  taken  years  and 
generations  to  develop  a  few  in 
every  one  thousand  out  of  the  idea 
of  external  sacrifice ;  out  of  the  idea 
of  the  giving  of  something,  into  this 
idea  of  the  acceptance  of  the  Will 
of  God  as  our  will.  In  our  meta- 
physical phrase  —  the  Recognition 
of  Love  and  Wisdom,  in  all  the 
events  of  life.  "A  higher  will  than 
our  own  regulates  events, "  says 
Emerson. 
The  thought  in  this  phrase  of  the 


Prayer  is  that  which  has  evolved 
into  the  shibboleth  of  the  Unitarian 
Faith— "Character !"  To  live  the 
Life!  Not  to  attempt  to  avoid  liv- 
ing by  doing  penance  and  sacrific- 
ing. 

The  deductions  of  science,  the  phil- 
osophy of  reason,  and  the  dictates 
of  conscience,  all  unite  in  the  peti- 
tion, "May  thy  will  be  done!"  To 
the  reasoner,  to  the  scientist,  to  the 
truly  philanthropic,  the  words  of 
Paul  are  the  one  and  only  needed 
fact  in  the  conduct  of  life,  "What- 
soever ye  sow  that  ye  shall  reap". 
"God  is  not  mocked,"  he  said.  To 
mock  him  is  to  think  he  is  variable, 
that  he  will  deal  with  one  child 
with  a  different  motive  and  under  a 
different  law  from  that  which  he 
deals  with  another.  His  Will  is 
Law  for  all.  Jesus  here  established 
the  principle  of  Causation  as  the 
Autocrat-of-the-Universe. 
Antedating  science,  he  under  the 
religious  Intuition  saw  the  Law  and 
taught  us  Agreement  with  it,  say- 


ing  virtually:  "Whatever  is,  is 
God's  will,  and  I  must  submit.  Not 
because  I  must,  but  because  I 
choose,  for  I  know  that  Will  is  Wis- 
dom and  Love." 

Until  one  reaches  this  condition  of 
reconciliation  and  the  conscious- 
ness of  Unity  of  his  personal  will 
with  that  of  the  Divine  Will  can  he 
know  peace.  Not  until  one  realizes 
the  inviolable  and  inevitable  Law 
of  Cause  and  Effect,  ' '  Chancellors 
of  God,"  Emerson  calls  them,  and 
intellectually  accepts  whatever  is, 
and  religiously  FEELS  it,  as  a 
prayer,  will  he  or  she  come  into  the 
knowledge  that  the  Kingdom  of 
heaven  is  within;  is  now  and  here, 
To  FEEL  it  is  to  find  it,  to  know 
it,  is  intellectual  power.  The  mo- 
ment the  thought  of  order,  regular- 
ity, system,  law,  was  perceived, 
then  was  science  possible,  and  then 
was  true  philosophy  born. 
All  previous  reasoning  was  from  a 
false  premise  and  from  a  false  in- 
tellectual basis.  There  was  and 

70 


ever  had  been  a  religions  basis.  Re- 
ligion is  feeling.  The  FEELINGS 
that  inspire  one  when  he  looks  npon 
nature  and  thinks  upon  her  and  her 
manifestations,  are  religion. 
The  great  mistake  made  by  com- 
mentators, ecclesiastics  and  skep- 
tics in  regard  to  the  Bible,  and  it  is 
an  error  perpetuated  by  many  New 
Thought  teachers  and  by  Christian 
Science,  is  to  attempt  to  read  into 
the  words  and  stories  in  the  Bible 
the  intelligence  of  the  twentieth 
century.  In  Bible  study  and  worship 
all  the  intellectual  conceptions  of 
God,  Man,  Nature,  then  and  now 
held  should  be  forgotten,  and  we 
should  try  to  reproduce  the  Feel- 
ings that  inspired  the  writers.  We 
should  strive  to  become  one  with 
them,  and  with  all  men,  and  to 
FEEL  God  within  and  around,  as 
the  All  in  All.  Any  attempt  to  tell 
what  they  thought,  or  to  base  any 
philosophy  upon  what  we  think  they 
thought,  results  in  error. 
All  any  one  can  do  is  what  I  am 

71 


doing,  i.  e.,  attempting  to  read  into 
the  lines  the  results  of  my  feelings 
and  to  utter  the  words  they  uttered, 
FEELING  as  they  felt,  and  making 
no  attempt  to  think  their  thought, 
nor  asking  what  they  thought.  It 
is  folly  to  attempt  the  impossible. 
It  is  impossible  for  an  American, 
in  1914,  to  think  what  a  Hebrew 
thought  in  B.  C.  1000,  or  in  A.  D, 
75.  But  it  is  pleasant  to  learn  what 
we  may  of  their  manners,  customs, 
rites  and  ceremonies,  and  to  try  to 
understand  their  origin  in  human 
needs  and  to  learn  their  place  in 
the  common  human  emotions. 
We  cannot  realize  the  willingness 
of  a  mother  to  sacrifice  her  child  to 
the  god,  or  to  throw  it  into  the  sa- 
cred river.  Nor  that  of  the  mother 
of  Samuel  to  devote  him  to  the 
Lord;  but  we  can  realize  that  it  was 
the  same  emotion  which  prompts 
us  to  succor  the  weak  and  to  build 
our  hospitals. 

This  is  the  only  way  I  can  see  it 
possible  to  realize  the  Unity  of  the 

72 


race.  In  this  thought  we  can  pray; 
in  this  feeling  we  should  pray  con- 
stantly, "Thy  will  be  done!"  May 
the  Universe  ever  continue  in  my 
thought  as  Wisdom  and  Love,  and 
I  can  affirm  as  I  pray— It  is  Wis- 
dom and  Love  and  All  is  Good. 


Through   Love   to   Light!   O   wonderful   the 

way 
That   leads   from     darkness   to   the   perfect 

day! 
From    darkness    and    from    sorrows    of   the 

night 
To  morning  that  comes   rejoicing   o'er   the 

sea! 
Through  Love  to  Light!     Through  Light  O 

God,  to  Thee, 
Who  art  the  Love  of  love,  the  eternal  Light 

of  light. 

—Richard  Watson,  Gilder. 


73 


O  Father!  to  Thy  will  we  bow! 

And   lead   us   all   to   see, 
How,  even  in  the  darkest  hours 

We're   closest  drawn   to  Thee! 
O,  Father!  Make  us  wholly  Thine! 

Grant  us  Thy  loving  care, 
And  when  Life's  labors  all  are  done 

May   we   Thy   glory    share. 

—Lillian   Whiting. 


IF  YOU  would  begin  here  and 
now,  today,  this  present  hour,  to 
enjoy  the  benefits  of  the  Father's 
care,  go  apart  from  your  fellow  men 
for  a  time,  seek  the  solitude  of 
the  Spirit,  as  Jesus  bade  men  seek  Him  in 
his  wonderful  Sermon  on  the  Mount.  Lay 
aside  all  plans,  open  your  mind  and  heart 
in  receptive  worship;  consecrate  all  you 
possess;  all  you  are;  to  the  Father;  then  be 
true  to  the  highest  thought  that  comes  to 
you;  trust  though  you  see  not  whither  you 
are  going;  your  faith  must  be  severely  test- 
ed. For  no  man  ever  sought  help  in  this 
spirit  who  came  away  unfilled. — Horatio 
W.  Dresser. 

74 


ON  EARTH. 


two  words  so  simple, 
so  common,  are  neverthe- 
less in  this  connection  two 
as  important  words  as  can  be 
found  in  all  the  Bible.  In 
understanding  the  philosophy  of 
Life  as  taught  by  Jesus  they  are  the 
two  most  important  words  in  the 
New  Testament.  They  are  the  key- 
words to  all  the  thought  and  acts 
of  Jesus  as  recorded  in  the  first 
three  Gospels.  These  Synoptic  Gos- 
pels are  the  only  ones  that  are  con- 
sidered in  any  degree  historical. 
Eemember — This  Prayer  is  a  Vision 
of  Life.  In  it  are  embodied  the 
Highest  Ideal  of  a  people,  and  that 
of  the  most  philosophic  religious 
teacher  of  all  time. 
He,  in  this  prayer,  boiled  down  his 
theory  of  life  into  simple  phrases 
which  his  followers  could  use  in 

75 


their  devotions.  He  used  petitions 
already  familiar  to  them,  but  in  new 
connections  and  with  a  more  devout 
spirit,  and  with  an  enlarged  Vision 
of  Man  and  God,  and  Life  and  Love,. 
The  Kingdom-of-God  was  for  them 
as  for  all  devout  persons  now,  the 
realization  of  the  Ideal  Life.  The 
thoughts  of  the  Prayer  belong  to  a 
branch  of  the  religious  expressions 
of  men  who  had  in  their  theology 
and  in  their  practice  no  thought  of 
a  life  except  that  seen  and  felt  now. 
They  prayed  for  the  Kingdom  of 
the  Good  to  come  to  them  here  and 
now.  This  is  strongly  emphasized 
in  the  words  "On  earth !" 
The  Old  Testament  is  accepted 
without  discussion  on  the  part  of 
scholars  as  a  materialistic  book. 
Good  authorities  affirm— "No  sa- 
cred books  so  little  regard  the  sub- 
ject of  immortality  as  the  Old  Tes- 
tament. "  The  Hebrew  never  trou- 
bled himself  concerning  the  condi- 
tions of  the  dead.  They  went  to  the 
"  Underworld ".  He  did  not  try  to 

76 


imagine  what  it  was,  or  where  it 
was  located.  Man  went  there  when 
he  died.  And  any  other  thought 
has  been  imported  into  these  books 
by  those  who  desire  to  prove  their 
theological  tenets.  Immortality  is 
in  the  mind  of  the  commentator 
and  not  in  that  of  the  Hebrew  au- 
thor. The  fact  was  impressed  upon 
me  many  years  ago  by  a  learned 
Jewish  Rabbi  who  invited  me  in  to 
his  library  and  showing  me  his  edi- 
tions of  the  Talmud,  Minshna  and 
the  Gemara,  gave  me  quite  a  lecture 
upon  the  doctrine  of  death  and  the 
Hereafter  as  found  in  the,  to  him, 
sacred  writings. 

Lyman  Abbott  recognizes  this  fact 
in  his  "  Letters  to  Unknown 
Friends, "  in  The  Outlook  for  Feb. 
28,  where  he  says:  " There  is  little 
reason  to  believe  that  Old  Testa- 
ment writers  believed  in  personal 
immortality.  If  they  did,  their  be- 
lief was  certainly  very  shadowy, 
vague  and  unsatisfactory ! "  But  he 
thinks  that  "Jesus  brought  life  and 

77 


immortality  to  light!"  The  evi- 
dences deduced  by  him,  (I  use  him 
as  a  representative  of  the  liberal 
interpreters  of  Scripture),  the  evi- 
dence he  draws  from  the  New  Tes- 
tament would  not  be  accepted  by 
any  Justice  of  the  Peace  as  conclu- 
sive evidence  in  a  case  of  petty  lar- 
ceny. 

I  do  not  wish  to  side-track  the 
thought  of  these  essays  by  a  discus- 
sion to  which  of  the  four  sects  into 
which  the  Jews  were  then  divided, 
Jesus  belonged.  Much  that  he 
taught  was  in  harmony  with  that 
of  the  Essenes;  much  in  harmony 
with  the  Samaritans.  But  some  of 
his  teachings  are  at  variance  with 
some  of  the  teachings  of  that  sect 
at  periods  when  we  know  the  most 
of  them.  He  did  not  seem  to  con- 
demn the  Pharisees  for  their  teach- 
ings but  for  their  fidelity  to  the 
form  and  the  neglect  of  the  spirit 
in  which  the  form  was  embodied. 
The  Sadducees  were  the  party  of  the 
wealthy.  They  placed  the  integrity 

78 


of  tlie  nation  above  that  of  the  He- 
brew Law. 

Any  one  interested  in  this  phase  of 
the  subject  can  look  it  up  in  any 
library.  From  my  reading,  I  think 
Jesus  was  eclectic;  was  free  to  take 
from  any  source  that  widen  was 
Truth  to  him.  I  am  convinced  that 
he  depended  more  upon  his  own 
perception  and  intuition  than  he  did 
upon  the  Eabinical  writings  and 
Sacred  Books.  Where  he  had  been 
instructed  from  twelve  years  old  to 
thirty,  is  a  question.  This  is  evi- 
dent, that  he  had  been  cultivating 
Self-reverence  and  Self-reliance. 
Had  been  in  some  way  developing 
himself  out  of  the  narrow  limits  of 
authority.  "Moses  said,"  was  the 
standard  of  the  time.  "But  I  say 
unto  you!"  was  a  new  standard 
which  only  a  free  man  could  give. 
Thus  he  belonged  to  the  Thinkers 
and  went  to  the  immortal  life  as  a 
consequence  of  his  thinking,  sent 
by  the  worshippers  of  external  au- 
thority. His  God  was  not  a  god  of 

79 


the  dead,  but  a  God  of  the  living. 
The  only  time  to  live  is  Now,  and 
the  only  place  is  Here.  To  the  liv- 
ing it  is  "on  earth".  Abraham, 
Isaac  and  Jacob  were  dead,  but  the 
God  they  worshipped  still  lives. 
Ideas  are  read  into  the  words  of 
Jesus  from  the  desires  and  intelli- 
gence of  the  present.  That  the  dis- 
ciples believed  in  an  immortality 
anywhere  except  on  earth,  I  find  no 
warrant.  Paul  even  held  to  a 
"  sleep, "  and  in  his  Hebrew  educa- 
tion in  the  Underworld,  believed 
that  he  and  those  that  fell  asleep 
would  rise  to  meet  Jesus  in  the 
Heavens,  in  the  air.  Eise  as  Samuel 
did,  from  the  "  Underworld ",  Not 
a  conception  by  even  early  Chris- 
tians of  any  Life  except  on  earth. 
The  Second  Adventists  have  the 
only  warrant  for  claiming  to  be  be- 
lievers in  Paul,  for  he  surely  held 
the  belief  that  all  would  arise  from 
the  grave,  and  Jesus  would  reign 
on  earth  for  1,000  years. 
But  in  the  words  of  Jesus  I  find  no 

80 


possible  ground  for  thinking  he  had 
any  idea  of  any  life  except  "on 
earth  I"  When  in  this  thought 
i  i  on  earth ' '  we  read  this  prayer,  his 
words  here  and  elsewhere  are  made 
clear  to  us. 

I  do  not  propose  to  enter  here  into 
any  long  discussion,  but  simply  to 
affirm  that  the  whole  Prayer,  and 
especially  these  phrases,  "May  thy 
kingdom  come  and  thy  will  be  done 
on  earth "  expresses  the  Vision  as 
held  by  New  Thought  people;  and 
to  affirm  that  if  any  people  have  a 
right  to  claim  fellowship  with  Je- 
sus, we  New  Thought  people  have. 
I  suggest  that  in  the  thought  that 
we  desire,  as  he  did,  that  the  Best 
possible  Good  in  all  ways  may  come 
on  earth,  that  you  read  his  words 
and  see  how  they  all  will  beautiful- 
ly apply  to  a  possible  condition,  an 
Ideal  Condition,  now  and  here.  That 
he  held  a  Vision  of  a  world  redeem- 
ed, a  Vision  of  Brotherhood,  a  cove- 
nant of  Love.  I  think  you  will  find 
that  no  reformer,  be  he  socialist, 

81 


anarchist,  statesman  or  patriot,  ad- 
vocates a  better  model  for  a  State 
than  that  set  in  the  Ideal  which  he 
told  us  we  could  pray  for  when  we 
desired  to  pray. 

Walt  Whitman  had  the  same  Vi- 
sion: 

I    will    make    inseparable    cities    with    their 
arms  about  each  other's  necks; 
By  the  love  of  comrades 
By  the  manly  love  of  comrades. 

It  was  necessary  for  'him  when  he 
gave  his  friends  this  Prayer  that  he 
would  condense  his  Perceptions  of 
Truth  into  it  in  such  a  way  that  he 
could  not  be  misunderstood  by  them. 
That  whoever  should  learn  this 
Prayer  would  be  putting  into  prac- 
tice that  Ideal  which  he  had  taught 
him. 

For  this  reason  the  words  "On 
Earth"  have  a  significance  that  no 
other  words  of  his  have,  for  us,  as 
they  enable  us  to  understand  that 
the  purpose  and  principle  of  his  life 
and  work  was  here  and  now  to  make 
a  better  civilization;  to  build  a 
Brotherhood  "among  men  of  good 
will". 


All  his  life  was  devoted,  not  to  a 
preparation  for  a  life  after  death, 
not  to  teaching  a  philosophy  of 
immortality,  nor  a  method  of  escape 
from  consequences  of  conduct  here. 
His  life  was  a  steady  activity  for 
the  amelioration  of  the  conditions 
of  men,  "On  earth." 
There  is  nothing  in  any  of  the  words 
attributed  to  him  that  warrants  us 
in  thinking  he  was  thinking  of  any 
life  but  the  present. 
The  t  i  Sermon  on  the  Mount, ' '  which 
should  contain  something  upon  that 
dogma  had  he  taught  it,  is  silent 
upon  anything  but  the  present  life. 
"Blessed  are"  is  his  affirmation. 
Blessed  the  moment  one  lives  Truth. 
The  only  phrase  that  can  be  con- 
strued into  any  possible  connection 
with  immortal  life  away  from  earth 
is  "The  kingdom  of  heaven!"  The 
word  and  the  place  of  heaven  I  have 
explained  in  a  previous  essay.  I 
will  pay  attention  to  the  words 
"Kingdom  of  heaven"  in  my  next. 
Would  you  understand  the  place  of 

83 


Jesus  rightly,  and  his  wondrous  Vis- 
ion, study  the  words  recorded  as 
his  in  the  thought  that  he  is  speak- 
ing of  the  possibilities  of  man  "on 
earth,7'  speaking  of  that  Ideal  con- 
dition which  is  coming  on  earth, 
and  I  think  all  the  life  and  words 
of  Jesus  will  be  plain. 
The  great  difficulty  is  that  it  is  very 
hard  for  us  to  get  away  from  the 
psychology  of  old  ideas.  We  have 
heard  so  much  of  error  concerning 
Jesus  and  his  work,  his  origin  and 
his  place,  that  we  do  not  read  the 
words  recorded  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment with  an  unprejudiced  mind. 
We  are  either  set  against  them  by 
reason  of  some  offensive  theology, 
or  are  set  for  some  interpretation  of 
them  by  some  preconceived  theory. 
To  me  the  beauty  of  his  life  and 
words  is  that  he  perceived  the  Di- 
vinity of  the  Human  Soul  and  its 
connection  with  the  ALL  GOOD 
and  realized  the  possibilities  that  it 
held  for  its  life  on  earth.  He  stim- 
ulated his  time  and  all  time  toward 

84 


the  expression  of  those  possibilities 
by  portraying  as  best  he  could  the 
glories  of  an  earth  redeemed  from 
ill  conditions.  He  helped  his  time 
by  healing  the  mentally  and  physi- 
cally diseased  by  setting  the  ex- 
ample of  a  true  socialistic  Brother- 
hood, and  by  teaching  the  one  and 
only  bond  of  unity,  that  of  Spirit, 
whose  manifestation  is  Love. 
Any  attempt  to  form  co-operative 
societies,  communities  or  colonies, 

upon  any  other  basis  than  a  relig- 
ious and  an  unselfish  union,  have 
failed  and  will  fail.  There  is  but 
one  religion,  and  that  is  LOVE  of 
Good;  a  love  so  great  that  in  it  all 
selfishness  is  swallowed.  All  sys- 
tems of  religion,  all  creeds  are 
merely  intellectual  attempts  to 
grasp  intellectually,  that  which  can 
only  be  FELT.  The  religious  feel- 
ing can  not  be  expressed  through 
any  intellectual  formula.  Religion 
does  not  consist  in  the  words,  and 
in  the  rites  but  in  the  spirit  which 
must  use  some  words  and  have 

85 


some  form  in  its  expression. 
The    deep    religious  feeling  of  the 
Salvation  Army  lassie,  we  must  ad- 
mire,   but    we    cannot    accept    the 
words — symbols    with    which    she 
clothes  her  expression  of  it. 
Jesus  spoke  for  the  present  and  for 
earth— for  the  here  and  the  now. 
I  paraphrase    the    words    of    the 
Prayer  thus:— 

I  desire  that  that  Ideal  of  Life 
which  is  in  consonance  with  the 
Law  of  Causation  and  with  my 
highest  Ideal  of  man  may  come  into 
expression  here  and  now,  "on 
earth. "  In  this  thought  I  can  truth- 
fully and  honestly  pray;  all  may 
honestly  pray:  May  thy  kingdom 
come,  and  thy  will  be  done  on  earth. 


86 


Give  free  and  bold  play  to  those  instincts 
of  the  heart  which  believe  that  the  Cre- 
ator must  care  for  the  creatures  he  has 
made,  and  that  the  only  and  effective  care 
for  them  must  be  that  which  takes  each  of 
them  into  his  love  and,  knowing  it  sepa- 
rately, surrounds  it  with  His  separate  sym- 
pathy.— Phillips  Brooks. 


Love  is  the  key  of  life  and  death, 
Of  the  hidden  heavenly  mystery; 

Of  all  Christ  is,  of  all  he  said, 
Love  is  the  key. 

As  three  times  to  his  saint  he  saith, 
He  saith  to  me,  he  saith  to  thee; — 

Breathing  his   grace-conferring   breath ;- 
"Lovest  thou  me?" 

Ah!  Lord,  I  have  such  feeble  faith, 
Such  feeble  hope  to  comfort  me, 

But  Love,  it  is  as  strong  as  death; — 
And  I  love  Thee! 

— Christina  G.    Rossetti. 

87 


If  on  a  Spring  night  I  went  by 
And  God  were  standing  there, 

What  is  the  prayer  that  I  would  cry 
To  him?     This  is  the  prayer: 

O   Lord  of  Courage   grave, 

O  Master  of  this  night  of  Spring! 

Make  firm  in  me  a  heart  too  brave 
To  ask  Thee  anything! 

— John   Galesworthy. 


Where  the  vain  blue-bird  trims  his  coat, 

Two  tiny  feathers  fall  and  float. 

As  silently,  as   tenderly, 

The  down  of  Peace  descends  on  me. 

0  this  is  Peace!    I  have  no  need 
Of  friend  to  talk  or  book  to  read; 
A  dear  Companion  here  abides, 

Close  to  my  throbbing  heart  He  hides; 
The  holy  ilence  is  His  voice; 

1  lie,  and  listen  and  rejoice. 

— J.  T.  Trowbridge. 


"AS  IT  IS  IN  HEAVEN/ ' 

OUR  second    essay  deals    with 
the  location  of  Heaven.    Now 
we  deal  with  the  conditions 
of  heaven,  the  thought  awakened  by 
the  word  "As." 

The  prayer  necessarily  intended 
that  we  should  ask  that  the  Heaven- 
Father —  Our  Father—  should  rule 
"On  Earth"  as  he  did  in  the  seven 
spheres  above  the  earth  which 
formed  the  firmament.  That  we 
also  should  recognize  him  as  the 
ruler  of  earth  and  heaven;  and 
should  in  willingness  resign  our- 
selves to  his  rule  here  and  now, 
should  live  every  day  as  a  subject, 
not  of  an  earthly,  but  of  a  heaven- 
ly king. 

Necessarily  perfection  must  center 
in  the  Ruler,  He  must  have  Power 
to  do  as  he  would.  He  should  have 
the  same  order  and  system  here  that 

89 


he  as  King  has  there.  What  he 
ruled  there  beyond  sun,  planets 
and  stars,  they  had  no  conception. 
But  these  he  did  rule,  and  they  rec- 
ognized the  orderly  changes  of  day 
and  night,  of  seasons,  of  the  rise 
and  setting  of  stars  and  constella- 
tions. 

Therefore,  there  is  in  the  petition 
an  expression  of  the  desire  that  the 
same  power  that  kept  for  so  many 
centuries  the  heavens  in  their  place 
and  in  order,  might  in  the  same 
way  keep  earth  and  its  inhabitants 
and  its  conditions  in  order. 
This  Infinite  Power  centered  Itself 
"on  earth "  in  the  King.  David 
and  Solomon  had  been  Its  great 
kings.  The  Jew  was  looking  for 
the  return  of  the  Jewish  nation  to 
power.  At  the  time  this  prayer  was 
given,  Roman  officials  occupied  the 
place  of  their  God-selected,  God- 
appointed  Kings.  It  was  the  dear- 
est hope  of  every  Jew  that  there 
might  be  restored  the  thrones  of 
the  past.  For  this  reason,  this 

90 


prayer  was  to  the  Jew  a  petition  for 
the  breaking  of  the  Eoman  yoke 
and  a  restoration  of  the  Kingdom 
of  Abraham,  Isaac  and  Jacob,  a  re- 
turn of  the  glory  of  David  and  Sol- 
omon. "Thy  kingdom  come  on 
earth"  could  have  no  other  picture 
in  the  imagination  of  the  Jew  than 
this  restoration.  It  was  a  prayer  of 
treason  to  Rome.  "Jehovah,  wilt 
thou  break  this  bondage  and  restore 
the  throne  of  David  for  us.  Make 
thy  kingdom  here  now  among  us." 
It  is  impossible  for  us  to  pray  this 
prayer  with  the  conception  of  the 
Jew  of  the  first  century.  Did  Jesus 
hold  this  same  thought!  I  can 
gather  from  the  records  that  he  had 
no  other. 

Like  all  Jews  at  his  time  he  and  his 
followers  were  always  looking  for 
the  Father-King  to  send  his  repre- 
sentative in  a  Messiah,  who  would 
lead  them  to  rebellion  and  break 
the  yoke  of  Rome,  Early  in  his 
ministry  his  followers  centered  upon 
him  as  the  Messiah.  Let  it  be  re- 

91 


membered  that  Messiah  had  no  re- 
lation to  any  life  except  the  life 
upon  earth.  Tfhe  Messiah  was  a 
political  deliverer.  But  since  that 
political  power  was  also  the  relig- 
ious power  and  the  only  power  the 
Jew  recognized,  it  followed  that 
Messiah  meant  one  appointed  by 
the  Power  above  earth  to  rule  his 
chosen  people  on  earth. 
It  seems  doubtful  that  Jesus 
thought  this  or  accepted  it  for  him- 
self at  first.  But  the  zeal  of  his 
followers  and  the  success  of  his 
work  and  his  triumphal  entry  into 
Jerusalem  led  him  to  at  least  accept 
as  a  possibility  that  his  mission  was 
to  relieve  his  people  from  the  op- 
pression of  the  Roman.  So  great 
became  the  public  opinion  concern- 
ing him  among  the  Eoman  powers 
that  he  was  arrested  on  informa- 
tion of  his  enemies  and  convicted 
of  treason  and  executed;  not  for  his 
works,  not  for  his  teachings,  but 
because  his  followers,  in  crowds, 
had  hailed  him  as  the  Messiah;  as 

92 


the  one  who  should  lead  in  a  rebel- 
lion as  antecedent  patriots  had  done 
and  subsequent  patriots  did.  Over 
his  head  on  the  cross  was  an  in- 
scription which  glorifies  him  as 
Eobert  Emmet  of  Ireland,  and 
Nathan  Hale  and  Elmer  Ellsworth 
are  glorified — one  who  died  for  his 
country,  "King  of  the  Jews."  He 
filled  in  his  day  the  same  place  as 
Washington  and  his  compatriots 
did  in  1775.  It  is  said  that  Frank- 
lin said  then,  "We  must  all  hang 
together  or  we  shall  all  hang  sepa- 
rately !"  Had  Lexington  and  all 
along  the  line  to  Yorktown  been  de- 
feats, they  would  each  have  died  on 
the  gibbet  and  the  inscription  would 
have  been — "He  would  be  an  Amer- 
ican Freeman!" 

It  is  probable  that  in  this  prayer 
Jesus  was  consciously  teaching 
treason  to  Borne,  as  Thomas  Paine 
in  "Common  Sense"  and  "The 
Crisis"  taught  the  American  colo- 
nies treason  to  England.  The  prayer 
under  our  knowledge  of  that  time 

93 


is  capable  of  this  interpretation. 
It  raises  Jesus  in  our  estimation. 
It  places  him  as  a  martyr  to  his 
country,  to  Truth  as  he  saw  it,  and 
leaves  him  not  merely  one  who 
would  be  a  leader  for  some  selfish 
end,  either  for  himself  or  his  na- 
tion. 

John  Brown  was  hung  for  the  same 
cause  for  which  Jesus  was  crucified. 
The  difference  of  2,000  years  is 
merely  one  of  detail.  The  Princi- 
ple is  eternal.  It  adds  a  mighty 
power  to  the  Prayer  when  it  in- 
cludes loyalty  to  one's  country  and 
to  the  principles  it  stands  for.  The 
Church  has  a  prayer  for  "the  Pres- 
ident, and  all  others  in  authority!" 
This  Prayer  includes  all  this  and 
more;  it  looks  to  the  Divine  Possi- 
bilities in  man  to  make  a  heaven  on 
earth  whenever  he  shall  wil)  to 
make  it. 

The  point  of  view  today  gives  us  a 
Vision  in  the  Prayer  grander  than 
any  the  commentators  have  found. 
While  the  Hebrew  of  75  A.  D.  could 

94 


pray  it  for  the  liberation  of  his  na- 
tion; the  Irishman  today  for  the 
freedom  of  his ;  the  Englishman  and 
the  Frenchman  for  the  stability  of 
their  governments,  so  we  also  ean 
pray  through  this  Prayer  for  the 
perpetuity  of  our  nation,  and  at  the 
same  time  unite  with  all  these  in 
the  consciousness  that  the  Power  to 
whom  we  pray  is  one.  IT  is  the 
inviolable  Principle  of  Causation. 
The  difference  lies  in  the  concep- 
tion of  each  person  and  not  in  the 
Eeality  for  which  our  mental  image 
stands. 

More  and  more  as  we  study  it,  does 
it  become  a  universal  Prayer,  a 
Vision  of  Universal  Brotherhood. 
There  is  no  one  who  may  not  in  sin- 
cerity and  in  truth  unite  with  us  at 
any,  and  at  all  times,  in  saying, 
44  May  thy  will  be  done  on  earth  as 
it  is  in  heaven. " 


95 


I  do  not  pray  because  I  would. 

I  pray  because  I  must. 
There  is  no  mercy  in  my  prayer, 

But  thankfulness  and  trust. 
And  thou  wilt  hear  the  thought  I  mean 

And  not  the  word  I  say, 
Wilt  hear  the  thanks  between  the  words 

That  only  seem  to  pray. 

—John  W.  Chadwick. 


A  beneficent  fluid  bathes  us,  whence  we 
draw  the  very  force  to  labor  and  to  live. 
From  this  ocean  of  life,  in  which  we  are  im- 
mersed we  are  continually  drawing  some- 
thing, and  we  feel  that  our  being,  or  at  least 
the  intellect  that  guides  it,  has  been  formed 
therein  by  a  kind  of  local  concentration. 
Philosophy  can  only  be  an  effort  to  dis- 
solve it  again  into  the  Whole. — Henri 
Bergsen. 


96 


GIVE  US  THIS  DAY  OUR 
DAILY  BREAD." 


us  this  day  our  daily 
bread,"  is  one  that  has 
troubled  the  translators 
very  much.  The  word  translat- 
ed "daily"  should  never  have  been 
translated.  It  is  a  guess.  There 
are  over  seventy  words  suggested 
for  the  one  Greek  word  thus  trans- 
lated. The  best  New  Testament 
Greek  scholar  in  the  United  States, 
Prof.  Gary  of  the  Meadville  (Uni- 
tarian) Divinity  School,  told  us  in 
class  that  the  word  thus  translated 
was  found  nowhere  else  in  all  ex- 
tant Greek  literature.  It  thus  stands 
alone,  with  no  other  passage  to 
which  to  refer  as  aid  in  its  inter- 
pretation. No  one  knows,  and  nev- 
er will  know,  until  some  other  Greek 
MSS.  shall  be  found  that  will  give 
a  clue  to  its  meaning. 

97 


It  is  "  bread "  that  is  asked  for,  but 
what  bread?  The  revised  version 
helps  us  not  in  its  marginal  read- 
ings, "Bread  for  the  coming  day." 
Max  Muller  tells  us  of  a  prayer  to 
Indra — "Give  us  our  daily  bread!" 
But  did  Jesus  teach  his  disciples  to 
pray  for  material  things  ?  He  taught 
them  to  trust  for  food  and  clothes 
as  the  sparrow  and  the  lily  trust. 
Why  not  for  bread?  He  found  bread 
and  fishes,  where  others  would  not. 
Why  not  teach  them  to  look  for 
Supply  in  all  directions  to  the  One 
Power  from  which  lily,  sparrow 
and  man  are  fed! 

He  did  not,  according  to  Luke,  com- 
mand them  to  use  this  prayer. 
1 '  When  ye  pray, ' '  he  said.  Matthew 
puts  in  the  prayer  as  part  of  a  dis- 
course on  Prayer,  where  he  tells 
them  not  to  pray  as  others  pray, 
but  to  use  this  form.  Instruction 
here,  and  not  command.  '  '  Our  Fath- 
er knoweth  ye  have  need  of  these 
things  before  ye  ask  him,"  he  told 
them.  "Pray,  believing  that  ye 


have  these  things  before  ye  ask 
them!"  he  says  again. 
Though  the  translators  may  higgle 
over  the  Greek,  and  theologians 
over  the  thoughts  of  Jesus,  we  have 
no  trouble  to  accept  the  thought  as 
daily  and  believe  in  reality  of  pos- 
session before  the  prayer  is  uttered. 
Why  not  <  <  daily  "1  If  the  Bible 
has  any  value  to  us  as  a  guide  or 
counselor,  it  is  as  a  daily  inspira- 
tion. The  word  "daily"  is  in  per- 
fect harmony  with  Jesus'  instruc- 
tions, all  of  which  were  confined  to 
the  Here  and  the  Now.  ' l  On  Earth ' ' 
is  the  prayer.  This  present  mani- 
festation of  Our  Father's  Kingdom 
is  where  we  are  to  look  for  all  good 
things. 

When  we  interpret  this  petition  for 
"daily  bread"  in  the  light  of  Jesus' 
other  teachings,  it  becomes,  not  a 
petition,  but  a  recognition.  The 
needed  bread  is  here  now.  Prayer 
is  that  mental  attitude  in  which  we 
recognize  that  all  needed  things  are 
ours  before  we  ask  for  them. 

99 


Recognition  and  thanksgiving  are 
the  two  functions  of  prayer.  All  is 
here !  All  is  mine  now !  Just  as  all 
in  the  home  is  the  babe's,  so  all  in 
* l  Our  Father 's ' '  house  is  mine  now. 
The  babe  does  not  know  what  he 
wants,  but  all  that  can  supply  his 
want  is  at  his  hand.  He  grows  day 
by  day  to  receive  this,  and  to  re- 
ceive in  the  degree  in  which  he  rec- 
ognizes supply  for  his  need.  "Be- 
lieve ye  have  these  things  before  ye 
ask  for  them,"  is  to  be  our  attitude 
toward  Infinite  Supply.  By  this 
prayer,  ' '  Give, '  '•  —which  is  a  look- 
ing forward  to  the  coming  supply, 
— the  mental  attitude  is  created  by 
which  one  becomes  able  to  perceive 
the  way  to  supply.  "Seek  ye  first 
the  kingdom  of  Grod."  Prayer  is 
one  method  of  seeking.  Until  we 
perceive  that  all  is  ours,  and  all  is 
here,  and  all  is  present  now,  we 
must  by  petition  grow  into  that  per- 
ception. 

And    what    does     "daily     bread" 
100 


mean!  No  one  can  know  'what  Je- 
sus meant  by  it,  but  each  person  can 
tell  what  he  means  as  he  prays  it. 
I  presume  very  few  confine  it  to 
material  food.  I  think  to  most  peo- 
ple it  means  whatever  one  needs  on 
every  plane  of  being.  When  I  use 
it,  it  means  everything  in  Infinite 
Supply  that  I  can,  as  a  physical,  af- 
fectional,  intellectual  and  spiritual 
being,  use  for  my  happiness.  "Man 
liveth  not  by  bread  alone. "  He 
lives  by  Truth  and  Love.  My  per- 
sonal idea  of  "  bread "  as  used  in 
the  prayer  is  found  in  John  4:33-34: 
"My  Father  giveth  you  the  true 
bread  out  of  heaven  to  eat."  The 
words,  "Give  us  this  day  our  daily 
bread, "  are  to  me,  the  expression 
of  a  desire  for  consciousness  of 
spiritual  life;  for  that  baptism  of 
Spirit  that  shall  awaken  this  con- 
sciousness in  me  as  the  baptism  of 
the  sun  awakens  the  demonstrations 
of  beauty,  fragrance  and  reproduc- 

101 


tion  in  the  plant. 

This  expression  cannot  be  under- 
stood by  those  who  only  petition: 
"Give."  It  comes  only  when  there 
is  a  spiritual  recognition  that  I 
am  now — all  I  once  prayed  far. 
"Give"  is  the  child's  petition;  man- 
hood's reception  is  "I,  am  the  bread 
of  life!"  The  personal  conscious- 
ness has  absorbed  the  Universal 
Consciousness  and  as  drop  mingles 
in  ocean,  both  are  one;  only  in  this 
"I  am"  case,  the  whole  ocean  has 
assumed  the  individuality  of  the 
drop.  Prayer  has  led  to  Eeality 
Petitioner  and  giver  are  one. 
The  true  spirit  of  prayer  excludes 
petition.  To  ask  for  anything  is  to 
regulate  our  thought  back  to  primi- 
tive man,  and  to  place  ourselves  on 
his  plane.  He  could  ask  a  power 
which  he  believes  to  be  autocratic 
and  could  give  or  withhold,  and 
could  look  for  an  interposition  in 
his  behalf  because  he  had  asked. 

102 


The  Hebrew  believing  Jehovah,  an 
Autocrat  who  could  do  as  he  pleased 
could  petition.  But  one  who  today 
realizes  that  all  things  are  the  ma- 
terialization of  Mind  under  Law, 
and  that  there  is  neither  miracle  nor 
accident  in  nature,  cannot  petition. 
He  has  no  right  to  ask!  Asking  for 
anything  that  is  not  already  his  by 
Law,  he  will  not  receive,  because  it 
is  inevitable  that  he  will  have  his, 
and  all  that  is  his,  every  day. 
That  which  he  desires  is  already 
his!  The  Desire  could  not  be,  was 
it  not  a  spiritual  prompting  for  that 
which  is  now  waiting  for  his  recog- 
nition. Prayer  is  the  recognition 
of  existing  conditions.  "It  is  the 
Spirit  of  God  pronouncing  his 
works  Good!" 

Eecognition  is  the  one  mental  state 
in  which  I  receive  into  conscious- 
ness that  which  has  always  been 
mine.  "When  you  pray,  pray  be- 
lieving ye  have  these  things!" 

103 


I  have,  because  I  am  not 
but  I  am  an  expression  of  that 
which  prays  ,  thinks  and  asks, 
limited  to  the  manifestation 
which  is  all.  The  Something 
which  says  "I"  has  all  these  things. 
The  conscious  I  must  believe  that 
the  Real  I— the  Whole  I— has  what 
consciousness  asks  for,  and  by  de- 
siring it  is  brought  into  manifesta- 
tion. 

Words  are  but  the  symbols  in  which 
the  desire  is  clothed.  The  Spirit 
within  is  the  condition  of  import- 
ance. The  intellect  prays  not; but  the 
Soul.  In  soul  we  are  all  one,  and  all 
pray  for  the  one  thing,  which  is— 
Consciousness  of  that  which  I  AM, 
No  matter  then  what  the  Hebrew 
had  in  mind  when  he  asked  for 
(some  kind)  of  bread.  Nor  what  is 
in  the  mind  of  the  devotee  in  the 
various  churches,  and  under  every 
creed.  In  spirit  you  and  I  are  one 
with  him  when  we  ask  for  the  ma- 
terial consciousness  of  any  desire. 

104 


Our  spiritual  attitude  of  recogni- 
tion, of  thanks  for  what  already  is, 
is  one  with  each  of  these.  Intel- 
lectually each  may  ask  for  things, 
spiritually  each  is  rewarded  by  con- 
ditions. By  the  varying  conditions 
of  life  prayers  are  answered.  < '  Seek 
first  the  Kingdom' '  —  and  things 
shall  be  added,  as  the  consciousness 
at  this  stage  of  its  unfoldment  shall 
render  necessary. 

i  i  Give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread ! ' ' 
when  we  enter  into  the  spirit  of 
prayer,  is  to  each  of  us  merely  put- 
ting into  symbols  a  desire  that  we 
may  feel  and  recognize  the  Good 
that  is  already  ours. 
Petition  is  a  species  of  beggary. 
Jesus  did  not  teach  that.  When  he 
said  ' '  Our  Father, ' '  he  did  not  make 
us  beggars,  but  obedient  children 
of  a  wise  and  loving  father.  He 
told  us  that  God  was  more  willing 
to  give  than  we  are  to  receive.  So 
that  the  true  attitude  is  willingness 
to  receive,  and  a  thankfulness  for 
what  is  now  ours. 

105 


When  we  will  so  understand  and 
will  in  our  concept  of  "Bread,"  in- 
clude all  needed  experiences,  we 
will  unite  with  all  who  pray  and 
pray  in  this  spirit.  Bread  will  be 
the  "Bread  from  heaven,"  no  mat- 
ter if  it  be  the  food  on  our  table,  or 
in  our  library,  or  in  our  soul.  It 
came  in  the  right  way,  in  the  best 
way,  in  God's  way,  even  if  it  came 
through  joy  or  sorrow,  through 
seeming  failure  or  success,  through 
praise  or  blame.  By  the  effect  upon 
one's  own  mentality  and  spiritually 
unfolding  consciousness,  are  the 
answers  to  be  found. 
The  spirit  of  prayer  voices  itself  in 
an  inarticulate  cry  or  in  a  psalm  or 
hymn.  When  in  spirit  we  can  use 
any  symbol,  we  pray  and  receive  the 
blessing  spiritually.  It  is  not  neces- 
sary that  we  form  our  longing  in 
words;  we  need  but  simply  to  feel 
the  need  of  expression  toward  the 
One  from  whom  all  blessings  flow. 
This  feeling  is  prayer. 
It  is  right  that  we  recognize  a  Pow- 

106 


er,  not  our  personal  selves,  that  is 
Cause  of  all  that  we  realize.  It  is 
as  well  to  call  it  Father,  and  to  ask 
from  It  bread,  as  to  use  any  other 
symbols.  When  we  have  fond  me- 
mories of  home  and  parents,  no 
other  word  will  so  convey  the 
prayer  of  the  soul. 
For  this  reason  when  the  feeling  of 
prayer  comes  in  our  longing,  we  will 
still  use  words  that  loved  lips  have 
taught  us  and  which  devout  souls 
have  made  sacred,  and  will  pray- 
"Our  Father!  Give  us  this  day  our 
daily  bread- " 


Not  bread  alone,  but  all  good  gifts  bestow- 
ing, 
God's   angel   sends  us  on   our  beckoning 

way, 

With  sacrificial  wine  life's  cup  overflowing 
And  palms  kept  clear  from  idols:    Let  us 
pray! 

— Cclia  Burleigh. 

107 


True  prayer,  oral  or  silent,  is  born  of  bosom 
and  not  brain. — Andrew  Jackson  Davis. 


Every  noble  impulse  is  a  winged  prayer 
that  lifts  the  soul  one  step  nearer  to  that 
grand  ideal,  too  saintly  to  be  realized  in 
its  fulness  amid  the  scenes  of  mortal  life. — 
George  A.  Fuller. 


Our  thoughts  are  moulding  unmade  spheres, 

And  like  a  blessing  or  a  curse, 
They  thunder  down  the  formless  years, 

And  ring  throughout  the  universe. 
We  build  our  futures  by  the  shape 

Of   our   desires,    not   by   acts, 
There  is  no  pathway  of  escape — 

No  man-made  creeds  can  alter  facts. 

—Ella  Wheeler  Wilcox. 

108 


"FORGIVE  US  OUR  DEBTS  AS 
WE  FORGIVE  OUR  DEBTORS. " 

ZN     this     wonderful     scientific 
and      metaphysical     composi- 
tion   there   is     one     petition 
that    shows    a    marvelous    percep- 
tion   of    the     Law    of     Nature's 
balance,    the  Law  of    Justice.      It 
shows  that  the  individual  is  him- 
self the  Creator  and  the  Master  of 
his  own  destiny,  of  his  own  fate. 

"For   Destiny   pursues   us   well, 
By  land  and  sea,  through  heaven  and  hell! 
It  suffers  death  alone  to  die, 
Bids  Life  all  change  and  chance  defy!" 

But  that  Destiny  is  the  Individual 
Consciousness;  is  the  consequences 
of  individual  choice  in  human  life. 
Paul's  words  are  purely  scientific, 
if  commonplace  now,  "We  reap 
what  we  sow"  in  happiness  and 
character,  as  we  reap  crops  true  to 
seed  in  our  fields  and  gardens.  Je- 
sus taught  what  we  all  know  is  true 

109 


— the  measure  we  meet  is  measured 
out  to  us. 

Echo  is  but  a  physical  phenomenon 
obedient  to  the  same  law.  That 
which  I  cry  out  comes  back  to  me, 
though  it  may  be  changed  in  pitch. 
"Hello!"  never  comes  back  as 
"Goodbye!"  and  curse  words  never 
come  back  as  blessing.  Nay,  more; 
the  words  of  joy  or  woe  in  which  I 
cry  also  return.  These  words  never 
return  without  effect;  every  vibra- 
tion that  touches  the  ear  affects  and 
changes  "brain  -  cells.  Therefore, 
' '  My  word  never  returns  to  me  void, 
but  accomplishes  that  whereunto  I 
sent  it!"  Even  the  slightest  echo 
demonstrates  the  truth  of  the 
prophet's  word. 

This  law  is  the  Law  of  Equilibrium; 
Nature's  Law  of  Justice.  It  locates 
Justice  where  all  individuality  and 
all  responsibility  is  located — i.  e., 
within!  "The  Kingdom  of  God"  is 
there.  It  can  be  nowhere  else.  God 
—  Nature  —  has  no  control  save 
through  the  individual  center.  All 

110 


prayers  are  answered  by  God.  No 
prayer  goes  unanswered.  The  One 
God  answers  them  all;  answers  by 
the  only  channel,  and  the  only  meth- 
od, in  which  our  calls  for  Life  and 
Love  and  Truth  are  answered— 
that  is,  by  developing  within  us  that 
sense  of  the  Power,  which  is  itself 
the  thing  desired. 

The  wisdom  of  Jesus  lies  in  the  per- 
ception of  this  fact.  From  it  he 
never  departs.  However  much  the- 
ologians have  read  into  his  words  a 
plan  of  redemption  through  other 
means,  he  never  hinted  that  other- 
wise save  as  the  consequences  of 
individual  thought,  was  it  possible 
for  this  Kingdom  of  Heaven,  which 
is  happiness,  to  find  expression.  In 
no  way  can  the  Kingdom  of  God 
ever  control  earth  save  through  the 
humanity  in  which  it  is  located. 
God  judges  by  that  inner  sense  that 
thunders  only,  Do  Right.  God  con- 
demns only  by  that  false  human 
standard  that  sees  evil  where  there 
is  only  undevelopment ;  which  says 
ill 


through  the  Reason,  ' '  Wrong, " 
where  Truth  says,  "Undevelop- 
ment. ' ' 

But  with  this  Law  of  Jus- 
tice— As  I  do  will  I  be  done  by- 
how  dare  one  pray,  "Forgive  as  I 
forgive!"  unless  his  heart  be  pure 
and  he  holds  no  thought  of  ill 
against  his  brother?  There  is  no 
more  awful  affirmation,  no  more 
terrible  anathemas  one  can  utter 
against  one's  self  than  this: — "As  I 
forgive !"  I  shudder  every  time  I 
hear  that  petition.  Once  I  used  it 
as  carelessly  and  perfunctorily  as  I 
hear  others  use  it.  But  now,  that  I 
know  the  meaning  of  those  words, 
which  burn  like  furnace  fire  and 
pierce  like  Toledo  blades,  I  first  seek 
absolution  from  myself,  before  I 
ask  to  be  forgiven.  When  that  is 
done  then  I  am  forgiven.  "Absolve 
thyself  to  thyself!"  says  Emerson. 
The  moment  I  cleanse  myself  from 
thought  of  evil  toward  my  brother, 
I  have  cleansed  my  mind  of  all  evil 
thoughts  born  in  my  condemnation 
112 


of  myself.  Then  the  prayer  be- 
comes a  direct  affirmation:  As  I 
forgive  myself,  am  I  forgiven,  and 
so  do  I  forgive  others! 

But  what  right  have  I  to  forgive 
any  one !  The  right,  if  there  be  one 
of  condemnation,  of  judgment.  But 
I  hear  the  command, — "  Judge  not, 
lest  ye  be  judged ! ' '  Again  the  dread 
measurement  of  self.  Again  the 
balance,  As  I  do,  so  am  I  done  by. 
There  is  but  One,  and  I  am  that 
One  in  expression.  The  One  is 
present  in  my  every  act,  and  what  I 
am,  that  the  One  is;  this  is  true  of 
every  expression  of  every  one  and 
of  every  thing.  It  takes  ALL  to 
make  the  entire  expression  of  God. 
But  individually  as  Consciousness, 
I  determine  by  my  treatment  of  my- 
self how  the  universe  shall  treat  me. 
All  that  is  not  myself  but  reflects 
that  which  I  am  in  expression.  With 
this  consciousness  of  condemnation 
of  others  can  I  pray,  "Forgive  my 
trespasses  as  I  forgive  those  that 
trespass  against  me?"  Conscious- 

113 


ness  rebels  at  such  a  petition,  and 
no  matter  what  my  lips  may  frame, 
the  inner  conviction  is  the  opposite, 
and  we  never  pray  with  the  lips. 
The  feeling  in  the  heart  is  the  real 
prayer.  Therefore  to  say  forgive 
when  I  am  condemning,  is  to  say  in 
reality,  "Continue  still  to  condemn 
me!" 

The  experience  of  the  subject  of 
Suggestion  is  evidence.  He  has  ac- 
cepted the  thought  that  he  cannot 
open  his  hand.  That  thought  con- 
trols him,  and  until  he  changes  his 
thought  he  cannot  even  make  an 
effort  to  open  his  hand.  All  efforts 
are  controlled  by  the  thought  "I 
can't."  So  with  all  prayers.  It  is 
not  the  words  used,  but  the  thought 
in  the  mind  and  the  feeling  in  the 
heart  that  is  the  prayer,  and  that  is 
ever  answered. 

When  I  was  a  boy  and  did  wrong, 
mother  would  bring  me  face  to  face 
with  the  brother  and  compel  me  to 
say,  "I  am  sorry!"  I  said  it,  but  I 
know  now  that  in  my  heart  I  was 

114 


not  sorry,  and  therefore  I  did  the 
same  thing  again  upon  provocation. 
But  there  is  one  benefit  in  a  prayer 
of  mere  words.  A  benefit  from  my 
saying,  "I  am  sorry  I"  and  "I  for- 
give !"  These  words  have  the  power 
of  Suggestion,  and  create  the  habit 
ultimately  of  feeling  sorry  and  feel- 
ing forgiveness.  The  "Lord's 
prayer M  is  a  beautiful  affirmation 
—a  beautiful  ideal,  and  its  repeti- 
tion has  had  a  marvelous  effect  in 
building  the  ideals  of  Christendom. 
What  though  we  condemn  and  hold 
animosity  and  even  revenge?  That 
Ideal  is  growing.  We  are  nearer 
to  it  than  we  were  two  thousand 
years  ago.  Nearer  to  it  with  every 
utterance  of  this  prayer.  Once  the 
realization  is  awakened  in  any  soul 
that  his  own  forgiveness  is  meas- 
ured by  his  forgiveness  of  his  broth- 
er, then  he  is  forgiven,  and  the  sign 
of  forgiveness  is  "The  peace  that 
passeth  understanding ! ' ' 
The  prayer  to  us  who  see  its  beauty 
means,  ' i  Teach  me  to  so  forgive  my 

115 


brother  that  I  feel  myself  forgiv- 
en!" This  petition  is  the  precursor 
of  the  affirmation,  I  never  judge,  I 
never  condemn!  This  thought  cre- 
ates within  the  person  that  condi- 
tion of  selflessness  that  accepts  with 
joy  the  experiences  of  life,  and  find- 
ing there  so  much  to  enjoy,  there  is 
no  time  for  aught  else.  In  this  re- 
alization there  is  no  prayer  of  want 
but  only  the  feeling  and  the  prayer 
of  thankfulness. 

Toward  all  who  in  any  way  seek  to 
injure  we  will  utter  the  words  He 
taught  us,  "Father,  forgive  them, 
for  they  know  not  what  they  do!" 
In  loving  my  brother  thus  as  I  love 
myself,  as  I  love  Truth,  as  I  love 
Love,  I  have  found  the  only  possi- 
ble expression  of  the  heaven  that  is 
within  me,  and  realize  that  the  con- 
dition prayed  for  is  mine  now.  The 
Kingdom  has  come,  and  Divine  will 
is  done  in  me  the  moment  I  feel,  "I 
love  my  brother  as  myself."  As  I 
forgive  I  am  forgiven! 


116 


I  ask  Thee  not  for  days  or  years. 
I  ask  Thee  not  for  joys  or  tears; 

But  today,  O,  Lord! 
Beat  me  on  the  anvil  of  Thy  wrath — 
And  all  along  the  upward  path, 

Give  me  Thy  Word, 
Today. 

I  ask  Thee  not  for  Good  to  come, 
I  ask  not  for  future  home; 

But  today,   O  Lord, 
Beat   my    soul   on   '  the     anvil   of   Thy 

wrath — 

Yea,   tear   from  me     each     crutch   and 
staff- 
Give  me  Thy  Word 
Today. 

I  ask  Thee  not  for  beds  of  ease, 
I  ask  Thee  not  for  bitter  lees; 

But  today,  O  Lord! 
Beat  me  on  the  anvil  of  thy  wrath — 
And  'midst  thy  making  I  will  laugh — 
Give  me  Thy  Word 
Today. 

— Sam  Exton  Foulds. 


117 


}Tis  God,  then,  all  the  way,  more  near 

Than  is  the  day's  light  or  air; 
And  when  he  seems  to  disappear 

He  surrounds  us  everywhere. 

—Arena,  March,  1891. 


He  is  with  me  when  the  day  breaks, 

Through  the  long,  sweet  hours  of  light; 
When  the  evening  shadows  gather, 

In  the  silent,  darkening  night, 
The  ineffable  is  with  me; 

By  His  love  my  soul  is  filled 
With  a  joy  beyond  expression 

And  its  hunger  stilled; 
While  He  stoops  to  guide  my  footsteps 

He  informs  and  fills  the  whole, 
All  created  things  controlling — 

Vast,  mysterious  Oversoul. 

—Wanda  West. 


118 


LEAD  US  NOT  INTO 
TEMPTATION. 


petition  has  troubled  me 
more  than  any  other  of  the 
utterances  of  Jesus.  It  is 
not  in  harmony  with  the  rest 
of  his  teachings;  neither  does  it 
comport  with  his  character.  I  have 
always  used  it  with  mental  reser- 
vations and  interpretations  of  my 
own,  which  I  have  felt  were  more  in 
harmony  with  the  beautiful  life  por- 
trayed in  the  Gospels.  Others  have 
felt  the  same  inconsistency.  It  may 
be  an  error  of  the  first  reporters  of 
his  words;  but  more  probably  some 
transcriber  of  the  early  manuscripts 
inserted  the  "not,"  for  the  petition 
then  would  be  more  in  harmony  with 
the  indolent  life  of  the  monk. 
Theodore  Parker  changed  "lead" 
to  "leave,"  but  this  never  removed 
from  my  mind  the  mental  reserva- 

119 


tions  with  which  I  uttered  the 
words.  I  never  uttered  them  with- 
out a  feeling — "I  don't  want  what 
I  pray  for,  if  that  is  what  I  think  it 
is.  I  want  what  Jesus  intended/' 
There  is  a  duty  and  a  responsibility 
for  each.  My  words  are  for  the  one 
who  is  thinking  for  himself,  and 
asks  What  shall  I  do !  It  is  not  the 
reader's  business  to  decide  what  an- 
other shall  do.  In  answer  to  his 
question,  I  quote,  "Let  your  light 
shine  that  others  seeing  your  good 
work  may  glorify  the  Father!" 
The  very  thought  of  temptation  is 
repugnant  to  me.  What  is  tempta- 
tion! An  invitation  on  part  of  the 
universe — of  the  Non-me  —  to  the 
Me,  to  do  wrong.  This  is  an  impos- 
sibility. All  that  its  Not-me  says 
to  Me,  ' '  Here  I  am  for  you  to  use. ' ' 
There  is  in  this  invitation  no 
thought  of  good  or  bad,  for  Nature 
in  all  her  phenomena  is  non-ethical. 
She  never  says  "Do  good;"  she 
simply  says  "Do!"  I  decide  after 
I  do,  whether  what  I  do  is  what  I 

120 


desire  to  repeat  or  not.  If  I  do  so 
desire,  I  say  of  it  ' '  Good. ' '  There- 
fore temDtation,  under  the  old 
thought  of  suggestion  of  something 
external  to  do  wrong,  is  false. 
The  correct  definition  would  be— 
"Temptation — a  desire  on  part  of 
the  individual  to  do  that  which  he  * 
feels  is  wrong.7'  This  is  locating 
the  tempter  within.  The  man  tempts 
himself.  He  comes  up  against  his 
manhood.  He  learns  that  he  is  man 
and  not  brute,  through  this  oppor- 
tunity to  choose  between  two  acts. 
He  learns  that  he  can  use  conditions 
and  circumstances  either  to  harm 
or  benefit  his  physical  body;  may 
use  them  to  make  himself  happy  or 
miserable;  but  however  used, 
through  their  use  he  becomes  more 
and  more  conscious  of  his  power  of 
manhood,  and  his  power  of  self-di- 
rection. 

In  the  Eden  legend  there  was  no 
tree  of  the  knowledge  of  good  or 
evil  for  the  brute.  Only  man  could 
eat  of  it;  only  man  could  know.  Had 

121 


there  been  no  "tree,"  there  could 
have  been  no  Adam,  for  whatever 
form  Life  might  have  taken  in  that 
thing  that  would  have  been  in 
Adam's  place,  it  would  have  acted 
instinctively  and  automatically  as 
the  brute-life  acts.  Through  desire, 
man  has  been  led  from  the  Eden  of 
brute  to  the  Eden  of  man,  and  what 
has  been  called  "temptation"  has 
been  the  route.  Constantly  tempted 
to  try  something  new  and  constant- 
ly tempted  to  repeat  the  old  sensa- 
tions. 

"Overcome  evil  with  Good,"  said 
Jesus.  "To  him  that  overcometh" 
are  the  promises  in  Eevelations. 
Strength,  courage,  faith,  manhood, 
can  come  in  no  other  way. 
To  pray  "Lead  me  not  into  tempta- 
tion, "  is  to  ask  to  remain  in  present 
weakness  and  ignorance;  is  to  ask 
for  stagnation  and  death.  No  whole- 
some person  can  ask  for  this.  Ev- 
ery person  who  really  lives  realizes 
that  i  '  Life  is  struggle,  combat — Vic- 
tory. "  To  pray  this  prayer  is  de- 

122 


feat  without  struggle;  is  inglorious 
surrender. 

Temptations  are  opportunities;  are 
calls  to  come  higher;  are  commands 
to  know  one's  Self.  We  may  name 
them  trials,  lessons,  temptations  or 
what  not.  They  are  necessities  of 
nature  for  unfolding  of  the  Human 
soul.  We  may  meet  them  bravely, 
manfully,  and  find  happiness;  or 
may  meet  them  as  cowards  and  pol- 
troons. We  may  meet  and  overcome 
in  faith;  or  we  may  be  whipped 
through  fear.  But  in  even  the  de- 
feat by  fear,  soul  learns  through 
suffering  and  will  sometime  rally 
its  forces  and  win. 

"Oh,  what  a  glorious  record  had  angels  of 

me  kept 

Had   I    done   instead   of    doubted,   had   I 
warred   instead   of   wept!" 

Sometime  the  coward,  the  sneak, 
the  liar,  will  learn  to  be  manly, 
honest  and  truthful;  will  come  to 
trust  and  manifest  himself. 

"But    begone,     regret,     bewailing!    Ye    but 

weaken  at  the  best. 

I   have   tried   the   trusty  weapons   resting 
erst  within  my  breast; 

123 


I  have  wakened  to  a  knowledge  of  myself, 

so  strong  and  deep, 
That   I    dreamed   not   of  aforetime   in   my 

long  inglorious  sleep." 

But  for  temptations  that  came  and 
said,  "Try  me,"  this  knowledge  of 
Self  could  not  come.  No;  we  can- 
not pray  to  have  temptation  re- 
moved. Many  a  time  in  the  past 
have  I  changed  the  petition  to 
"Strengthen  me  to  overcome  when 
tempted. "  This  is  a  prayer  of 
Now  I  affirm,  * '  I  overcome ! "  "  Lead 
us  not,"  does  not  harmonize  with 
the  stalwart  character  of  Jesus.  He 
never  shrank  from  any  condition; 
never  doubted  himself.  Boldly  af- 
firming and  faithfully  doing,  he 
overcame  even  the  cross  and  the 
grave. 

In  a  recent  article  Ella  Wheeler 
Wilcox  says  that  an  eminent  schol- 
ar told  her  that  "not"  should  not 
be  in  the  petition.  That  it  was  not 
in  the  original  but  was  an  interpola- 
tion by  the  translators.  If  so,  we 
have  a  perfect  prayer.  But  in  the 
Revised  Version  we  have  no  hint  of 

124 


this.     Neither  does   the   American 

Committee  record  the  desire  for  any 
change  here,  though  they  recom- 
mend changing  " temptation"  to 
"  trial "  in  several  places.  And  a 
fine  Greek  scholar  tells  me  such  a 
translation  is  not  warranted.  We 
must  look  beyond  the  words  and  in- 
terpret them  by  the  life  and  spirit 
of  Jesus,  as  manifested  by  his  life. 
We  can  pray,  "Lead  us  into  tempta- 
tion. "  It  is  a  glorious  petition.  We 
desire  unfoldment.  We  desire  to 
know  ourselves.  We  desire  Power! 
Power  to  overcome!  Every  temp- 
tation deepens  our  consciousness  of 
Self.  I  am  only  as  I  overcome  some 
new  condition.  When  I  go  with  the 
tide  I  am  animal,  for  it  goes  in  line 
of  least  resistance.  When  I  move 
against  the  current,  when  I  over- 
come, I  am  human.  Blessed  is  the 
tempted,  for  he  shall  know  himself; 
is  the  sermon  of  today. 
Remove  nothing  from  my  path;  en- 
courage, stimulate,  teach,  and  lead 
me  to  know,  that  I  can! 

125 


The  Protection  theory  of  priest, 
teacher,  reformer,  legislator,  is  one 
of  the  most  grievous  of  errors.  It 
weakens  character.  Believe  the  boy 
of  all  temptations,  take  from  him 
the  necessity  of  overcoming,  and 
you  have  a  weakling,  a  cypher. 
Present  educative  methods  in  home, 
society,  and  school  all  tend  to  weak- 
en the  boy  and  girl.  "  Protection " 
in  legislation  has  weakened  the  na- 
tion, stifled  individual  initiative, 
and  turned  the  government  over  to 
the  monopolies  and  trusts  it  has 
created.  This  all  comes  from  that 
spirit  that  put  the  "Not"  in  the 
prayer.  Leave  "Not"  out  in  your 
thought  and  we  will  not  seek  to  re- 
move, to  protect  from,  but  to 
strengthen  in  hours  of  temptation. 
"I'll  not  remove  the  saloon  from 
you,  my  son,  but  I  will  strengthen 
your  confidence  in  your  Self,  so 
that  you  don't  even  know  it  is 
there,"  are  the  words  of  wise  men. 
Said  my  mother  often  when  I  was 
a  boy,  when  I  said,  "I  can't," 

126 


"What  were  you  made  for?"  And 
I  was  told  I  was  to  be  a  man.  That 
I  could,  and  I  must.  I  was  taught 
that  I  could  overcome.  But  many 
years  of  mature  life  were  needed  to 
teach  me  practically  through  sor- 
row that  I  might  say  "I  do!" 
"Lead  us  into  temptation"  is  the 
only  thought  a  self-respecting,  self- 
reliant  and  self-governed  person  can 
hold,  and  only  such  are  real  men. 
Emerson  puts  this  thought  into  the 
lines  that  introduce  his  marvelous 
essay  on  "  Self  -Reliance  " — 

"Cast  the  bantling  on  the  rocks, 

Suckle  him  with  the  she-wolf's  teat; 
Wintered  with  the  hawk  and  fox, 

Power  and  speed  be  hands  and  feet." 

Even  liberal  people  often  for- 
get that  liberty  stands  for  a 
mental  condition  the  opposite 
of  that  in  which  ordinary  people 
live.  In  ordinary  philosophy,  the 
fundamental  thought  is  that  of 
Power  outside  the  individual  acting 
upon  him.  In  the  New  Psychology 
it  is  the  Power  within  the  individual 
expressing  Itself.  The  Evolution- 

127 


ary  Power  within  that  acts  upon, 
and  changes,  environment.  In  the 
old  philosophy,  Man  is  classed  with 
other  forms  of  life.  Spencer  says, 
"Life  consists  in  a  constant  adjust- 
ment of  internal  to  external  condi- 
tions." This  is  true  of  chemical, 
vegetable  and  animal  life. 
Human  life  is  the  opposite  of  this. 
It  has  consisted,  from  primeval  man 
to  the  present  man,  in  the  adjust- 
ment of  external  to  internal  condi- 
~  tions.  As  man  has  evolved  into 
v  consciousness  of  himself  as  Power, 
he  has  changed  environment.  He 
has  thus  carried  on  the  one  creative 
Principle  which  brought  the  pres- 
ent world  from  chaos.  Environ- 
ment has  been  changed  through  an 
inward  urge.  Whitman  says,  ' i  The 
urge,  urge,  urge;  the  procreative 
urge  of  the  world."  This  same 
"urge''  is  still  at  work  in,  and 
through,  man. 

Prior  to  Man,  Life  was  limited  to, 
and  adapted  itself  to,  conditions. 
In  Man,  Life  has  no  limit.  It  adapts 

128 


conditions  to  Itself.  That  is,  as  far 
as  Man  has  come  to  know  himself, 
he  adapts  his  environment  to  his 
needs  and  desires.  As  far  as  Man 
is  ignorant  of  himself,  he  still  lives 
in  animal  limitations,  and  adapts 
himself  to  his  environment,  or  like 
the  animal,  dies  through  mal-ad- 
justment.  Thu&  Man  is  coming. 
When  he  has  fully  emerged  from 
the  animal  matrix,  he  will  have 
sloughed  off  all  limitations  in  him- 
self. Then  will  the  imperfections 
of  present  civilization  go.  Until 
then,  Man  will  continue  to  improve 
his  environment. 

The  present  reign  of  intemperance 
in  all  forms  of  expression,  business, 
education,  social,  religious, — an  ex- 
cess of  activity,  ambition  and  emo- 
tion— is  a  manifestation  of  present 
lack  of  self-control;  the  effect  of  the 
self-imposed  limitations  of  environ- 
ment. The  saloon,  the  bank,  the  so- 
cial rout,  automobile  races,  political 
rallies,  prohibition  crusades,  revi- 
val meetings,  banquets,  gambling 

129 


at  faro  and  stock-boards,  and  all 
places  where  excitement  rules,  are 
forms  of  intemperance;  are  mani- 
festations of  this  lack  of  self-con- 
trol. Man  is  not  made  more  self- 
controlled  by  cutting  out  any  one 
form,  neither  would  he  be  by  cut- 
ting them  all  out.  "Be  temperate 
in  all  things. "  That  is,  by  self-con- 
trol. 

Intemperance  in  all  its  forms  can  be 
cured  by  establishing  in  the  indi- 
vidual the  Principle  of  self-control, 
of  self-expression.  Therefore,  the 
old  thought  of  temptation  is  an  er- 
ror. Anything,  and  everything,  is 
or  may  be,  a  temptation  to  him  who 
allows  himself  to  be  overcome  by  it. 
Each  thing  was  once  a  temptation. 
Man,  by  overcoming  it  and  using  it 
for  good,  finds  it  a  blessing.  Each 
overcoming  has  developed  in  him  a 
consciousness  of  greater  power  to 
overcome  and  to  mold  environment 
to  his  will. 

All  forms  of  life  below  Man  move 
in  lines  of  least  resistance.  They 

130 


yield.  Man  overcomes.  "Resist 
not  evil,  but  overcome, "  said  the 
Teacher.  Accept  whatever  comes 
as  an  opportunity  of  unfoldment. 
The  so-called  evils  of  society  are  to 
be  overcome.  Man  has  overcome 
mountains  and  seas,  and  is  now 
overcoming  the  air.  He  must  over- 
come all  animal  tendencies  within 
himself.  When  he  has  mastered 
himself,  saloon-keeper  and  saloon- 
patron  will  both  disappear,  brothel 
and  libertine  will  not  exist;  selfish- 
ness will  have  disappeared. 
Manhood  consists  of  self-control. 
Any  education  that  causes  the  indi- 
vidual to  lay  blame  on  external 
causes,  and  not  upon  his  own  lack 
of  will  and  wisdom,  is  vicious.  It 
develops  weakness  of  character  and 
undermines  self-reliance. 
All  unsanitary  conditions  must  go; 
and  go  they  will,  sloughed  off  by  the 
unfolding  soul. 

Individuality  —  self-reliance — is  the 
only  remedy.  All  reliance  upon,  or 
submission  to,  external  authority 

131 


are  forms  of  weakness.  Character, 
manhood,  are  not  so  developed. 
Growth  in  character  consists  in  rec- 
ognizing all  that  heretofore  has 
been  termed  temptation  as  oppor- 
tunity for  growth  through  overcom- 
ing them.  Each  person  by  affirma- 
tion and  example  should  teach  self- 
reliance  and  self-control.  Then  will 
all  forms  of  vice  die  from  non-ex- 
pression. 

Encourage  the  expression  of  self- 
reliance.  Show  by  example  that  you 
can  and  do  govern  yourself.  When 
one  does  this  he  has  done  all  that 
is  possible  for  him  to  do  for  himself 
and  for  his  neighbor.  Said  Jesus, 
"My  Father  worketh  hitherto  and 
I  work. ' '  My  Father  works  through 
thistle  and  tiger,  and  I  must  also  in 
faith  believe  that  He  is  working 
through  these  so-called  temptations. 
Through  all  the  conditions  of  life 
the  Father  is  calling  into  expres- 
sion the  divinity  within.  Tennyson 
has  boiled  down  the  thought  for  us 
when  he  says: 

132 


'Self-reverence,     self-knowledge,     self-con- 
trol— 
The    three    alone    lead    Life    to    sovereign 


It  is  possible  when  xwe  pray  this 
Prayer  so  to  think  of  the  so-called 
temptations  as  opportunities  for 
overcoming,  that  our  prayer- 
thought  shall  be — May  I  have  wis- 
dom so  to  use  my  opportunities  that 
I  may  grow  in  consciousness  of  my- 
self as  Power  to  overcome!  That 
I  may  grow  through  these  tempta- 
tions in  health  and  happiness.  When 
I  so  use  the  Prayer  I  believe  I  am 
in  the  Spirit  of  Jesus,  and  am  enter- 
ing upon  the  same  consciousness  of 
Life. 

For  this  reason  we  will  still  con- 
tinue to  pray  in  the  Spirit  of  Jesus, 
but  in  the  Thought  of  today,  under 
the  Vision  of  the  Twentieth  Cen- 
tury— "  Lead  us  not  into  Tempta- 
tion! » 


133 


I  believe   in  the  good,   great  world,  and  I 

love  it, 

I  love  and  believe  in  Man  and  the  call 
Of  the  Soul  that  is  in  it,  yet  above  it — 
I  believe  in  the  God  that  made  it  all. 

— Winefrcd   Scott   Moody. 


One  thing  I  asked  of  God — 

That  I  might  be 
A  little  higher  than  the  earth-bound  clod 

From  gross  desires  free. 

This  came  to  me  from   God — 
"In  everything  that  is,  am   I. 

Thou  art  of  Me;  I  am  in  thee; 
And  I  am  purity." 

—Elizabeth  W.  F.  Jackson. 


134 


DELIVER  US  FROM  EVIL  ! 


all  is  One,  and  each 
individual  but  an  Expres- 
sion of,  and  not  a  divided 
portion  of,  the  One,  it  follows 
that  the  Power  to  which  we 
pray  is  that  Subconscious  Infinite 
Reality,  of  which  each  person  is  an 
expression.  Thus  it  is  the  Real  I 
to  which  the  conscious  I  prays.  It 
is  the  Real  I  which  answers  prayer. 
It  is  the  Conscious  expression  of 
the  Real  I  which  prays.  The  Sub- 
conscious Reality  which  always  an- 
swers. 

That  for  which  I  pray  is  the  Ideal. 
That  Ideal  is  already  a  Reality  in 
the  possibilities  of  the  Real  I.  Theo- 
dore Parker  spoke  truth,  when  he 
said  '  '  We  pray  to  the  Ideal  !  '  '  The 
Ideal  is  the  Real  within  the  soul. 
"When  ye  pray,  pray  believing  ye 
have  these  things  before  ye  ask 

135 


them!"  was  the  command  of  Jesus. 
This  is  the  prayer  of  sincerity.  Un- 
less we  do  believe  in  the  possibility 
of  its  answer  we  are  not  sincere. 
By  prayer  we  create  an  image  which 
the  Subconscious  Reality  takes  as  a 
model,  and  shapes  Itself  to  it,  in  its 
expression  in  consciousness. 
Thus  we  build  the  Ideal,  and  the 
Ideal  in  return  builds  our  external 
life. 

Prayer  is  therefore  a  necessity. 
Through  prayer  we  build  our  life's 
external  plane.  Nothing  comes  to 
us  that  we  have  not  prayed  for— 
True  prayer  is  Desire. 

"Prayer  is  the  soul's  sincere  desire, 

Uttered    or    unexpressed; 
The  impulse  of  a  hidden  fire, 
That   slumbers   in   the   breast." 

The  thing  prayed  for  may  not  come, 
but  the  desire  that  caused  the  objec- 
tive image  will  become  a  factor  in 
the  life.  I  may  pray  for  dollars. 
What  motive  have  I  in  that  prayer? 
If  it  is  that  I  may  use  them  for  help- 
fulness, I  will  find  the  Spirit  of  help- 
fulness increased  and  I  will  help 

136 


without  thinking  of  dollars.  But  if 
I  pray  for  dollars  that  I  may  make 
more  dollars,  I  will  surely  find  that 
the  miserly  spirit  has  increased 
through  the  prayer. 
Since  prayer  is  desire,  and  every 
desire  is  gratified,  it  follows  that  it 
is  not  the  words  of  my  prayer,  but 
the  motive,  and  the  spirit  in  which 
I  pray  that  is  of  moment. 
The  spirit  of  Jesus  and  that  spirit 
which  he  would  awaken  through  the 
whole  of  this  wonderful  prayer,  is 
that  of  unselfishness.  It  begins  in 
"Our"  instead  of  "My".  And  this 
thought  continues  through  it  all, 
making  it  a  unity  prayer.  It  is  "As 
WE  forgive "  and  "lead  US!"  and 
now  we  have  "Deliver  US".  It  is 
this  spirit  of  Unity,  of  Brotherhood, 
that  makes  him  the  earth 's  foremost 
teacher  and  the  prophet  of  a  Spir- 
itual Socialism  yet  to  be. 
This  phrase,  "deliver  from  evil!" 
is  an  Ideal  condition  of  life.  It  is 
impossible  for  one  to  pray  thus  in 
spirit  without  growing  within  him- 

137 


self  a  tendency  to  Goodness.  As  lie 
increases  his  faith  in  a  Power,  lo- 
cated somewhere,  that  can  deliver 
from  evil,  he  will  cease  to  think  of 
evil;  because  he  has  thrown  all  re- 
sponsibility of  relief  off  the  con- 
scious mind  and  leaves  the  sub- 
conscious free  to  express  itself 
along  its  natural  line  of  unf  oldment, 
and  in  harmony. 

That  one  does  not  understand  the 
philosophy  —  the  Why  —  of  any 
event  has  no  effect  upon  its  occur- 
rence. The  wheat  grows  under  like 
conditions  the  same  for  the  igno- 
rant as  for  the  learned  sower.  Fire, 
under  like  conditions,  will  burn 
idiot  and  savant,  and  the  fall  from 
a  precipice  will  equally  hurt  the  re- 
ligious and  the  irreligious.  So  with 
prayer;  he  who  prays  sincerely— 
who  really  prays — will  find  the  an- 
swer, no  matter  whether  it  is  ad- 
dressed to  an  image  of  wood,  or  to 
a  mental  image,  or  to  the  conscious- 
ness that  there  is  a  Power  some- 
where that  does  answer  because  IT 

138 


rules  all  forms  of  expressions  of  It- 
self. 

In  this  phrase  of  the  Lord's  Prayer 
we  have  a  most  important  thought 
in  the  evolution  of  the  race  from 
the  belief  in  evil  to  faith  in  the  All 
Good.  Though  Jesus  himself  saw 
only  Goodness,  and  so  lived,  his  fol- 
lowers did  not,  even  though  an  ear- 
lier prophet  had  said  "I  will  fear 
no  evil,  for  thou  art  with  me!"  and 
another  had  said,  "Though  I  make 
my  bed  in  hell,  thou  art  there!" 
Conditions  about  and  within  them 
caused  the  belief  in  evil  still  tb 
hold  them. 

To  instill  faith  in  the  All  Good  he 
taught  them  to  build  the  Ideal,  and 
in  the  degree  they  believed  they 
would  be  delivered. 
No  deliverance  from  any  condition 
without  a  belief  that  has  ripened 
into  faith.  Present  metaphysical 
healing  is  an  evolution  of  this  faith 
of  Jesus.  "Deliver  me  from  the 
body  of  this  death!"  has  saved 
many  a  patient  under  all  forms  of 

139 


medical  and  religious  faith.  To 
whom  is  the  prayer  addressed  when 
one  drowning  calls  ' '  Help ! "  It  is  to 
any  Power  that  can  at  the  moment 
save.  So  in  the  faith  that  there  is  a 
Power  to  svae,  we  pray  "  Deliver !" 
Any  power  that  can,  and  will,  and 
does,  deliver  from  evil  is  a  Power- 
of-Goodness.  Unconsciously  he  who 
in  faith  utters  these  words  of  Jesus 
is  cultivating  a  faith  in  the  greatest 
Affirmation  of  health  and  happi- 
ness, which  is— ALL  IS  GOOD!  And 
when  this  is  held  as  TRUTH  he  is 
already  delivered  from  all  evil,  for 
evil  is  to  him  non-existent. 
No  matter  what  our  plane  of  philos- 
ophy, no  matter  what  our  creed, 
each  person  is  anxious  for  the  reign 
of  goodness  within  himself  and  uni- 
versally. 

And  he  can  unite  with  every  other 
person  on  earth  who  so  desires,  in 
this  prayer.  You  and  I,  whenever 
we  realize  within  ourselves  any  ill 
condition,  or  realize  that  another 
holds  the  faith  in  evil,  will  pray 

140 


with  him  and  for  him — "Deliver  us 
from  evil!"  And  this  not  tinder  a 
thought  of  a  future  good,  but  with 
the  knowledge  that  the  moment  the 
desire  is  awakened  Goodness  has 
begun  its  redemption. 
Says  Whittier: — 

O  prayer  and  action,  ye  are  one! 
Who  may  not  serve  may  yet  fulfill 
The   harder  task   of  standing  still! 

And  good  but  wished    with  God  is  done! 


1  thank  thee,  God,  for  all  I've  known, 
Of  kindly  fortune,  health  and  joy, 
But  no  less  gratefully  I  own 
The  bitter  drops  of  Life's  alloy. 

0  there  was  wisdom  in  the  blow 

That  wrung  the  hot  and  scalding  tear, 
That  laid  my  dearest  idol  low 
And  left  my  bosom  lone  and  drear! 

1  thank  thee,  God,  for  all  of  smart 
That  I  have  known,  for  not  in  vain 

Has  been  the  bitter  aching  heart 
The  sigh  of  grief,  the  throb  of  pain! 

—Eliza  Cook. 

141 


Our  wills  are  ours,  we  know  not  how; 
Our  wills  are  ours,  to  make  them  thine. 

— Tennyson. 


All  is  well!     No  harm  can  reach  me, 
Shielded  by  Almighty  Power. 

All  my  needs  and  longings 
Find  supply  in  every  hour. 

— S.  G. 


No  hand  is  on  Life's  rudder  laid. 
The  while  my  oars  lie  idly  by! 

And  all  my  sheets  are  steadfast  made, 
For  Love  now  guides  me  silently. 

Why  should  I  question  and  why  fear? 

Love's  hand  is  guiding  me! 
His  is  my  sail;  His  voice  I  hear: 

And  He  controls  these  breezes  free! 

Somewhere  I  know  I  port  shall  win! 

Somewhere,  I  know,  dear  friends  I'll  see! 
Love — The  I  AM — is  Lord  within! 

Daily  he  brings  mine  own  to  me. 

— Henry  Harrison  Brown. 

142 


THE  EPILOGUE. 

"For  thine  is  the  kingdom  and  the 
Power  and  the  Glory!  Forever! 
Amen!" 


words  are  not  in  the 
prayer  as  found  in  the  ear- 
liest manuscripts.  The  best 
authority  is  Tichendorf,  who 
does  not  use  them  in  his  ver- 
sion. Other  good  authorities  agree 
with  him.  They  are  not  in  Mark, 
which  is,  no  doubt,  the  earliest  of 
the  records. 

We  have,  therefore,  in  the  preced- 
ing phrases  of  the  Prayer  the  most 
authentic  expression  of  Jesus.  But 
since  these  additions  are  used  by 
modern  churches  and  by  devotees 
almost  universally,  we  will  also;  find 
in  them  symbols  through  which  to 
voice  our  emotions  of  Love  and 
reverence. 
As  we  unfold  in  the  perception  of 

143 


Truth,  we  see  more  clearly  the  wis- 
dom of  those  seers  whose  thoughts 
are  for  us  the  "  winnowed  litera- 
ture" of  the  past. 
The  profoundness  and  beauty  of 
none  of  those  "winnowed  sheaves" 
stand  out  more  clearly  than  in  the 
authors  of  the  New  Testament. 
' '  Spiritual  things  must  be  spiritual- 
ly discerned!"  we  are  told.  Truth 
is  spiritual.  These  so  saw  it,  and 
until  we  shall  so  see  it  we  shall  have 
but  an  echo  of  Truth. 

Truth  is  first,  feeling.  The  degree 
of  ability  to  translate  what  one 
feels  into  thought,  makes  the  differ- 
ence between  seer,  poet,  philosopher 
and  boor. 

By  spiritual  perception  one  often 
makes  a  statement  of  Truth  which 
he  himself  does  not  understand.  He 
apprehends,  but  does  not  compre- 
hend. Apprehension  must  precede, 
and  sometimes  be  a  long  time  ante- 
cedent to  understanding,  even 
among  the  most  advanced  seers. 
Following  understanding,  must 

144 


come,  often  a  long  time  subsequent, 
the  practical  application  of  that 
which  is  apprehended. 

The  simplest  statement  of  Truth  is 
infinite  in  meaning  and  relation- 
ship, and  will  lead,  sometime,  when 
followed,  to  the  comprehension  of 
all  Truth,  during  the  Soul's  immor- 
tality. A  single  affirmation  is  hut 
one  link  in  an  infinite  chain  of  per- 
ceptions. 

I  believe  that  many  today  are  liv- 
ing Truth  as  expressed  by  New  Tes- 
tament writers;  understand  it  and 
its  application  better  than  did  those 
who  wrote  those  early  manuscript 
memories  of  Jesus. 
Jesus  probably  in  perception,  ap- 
prehension and  comprehension  ex- 
ceeded any  of  his  followers  then 
and  now.  He  perceived,  as  did 
John,  that — "He  that  cometh  after 
me"  shall  do  more  wonderful 
works;  because  he  will  not  only 
himself  more  clearly  appreciate  the 
Power  of  Truth,  but  will  live  among 
a  people  and  at  a  time  when  the 

145 


Truth  perceived  will  be  made  prac- 
tical. 

The  two  first  words  of  the  Prayer— 
6 'Our  Father "  -stand  out  boldly  as 
the  name  of  the  Power  invoked.  But 
nothing  is  given  us  there  as  to  the 
personality  of  the  Being  invoked 
nor  His  attributes.  Probably  this 
was  felt  by  some  spiritual  soul  and 
this  epilogue  was  added  to  personify 
and  bring  closer  to  mind  the  con- 
ception of  the  Father. 
The  wisdom  of  this  triune  ascrip- 
tion is  patent  when  we  remember 
that  the  first  conception  of  external 
life  to  primitive  man  and  the  infant 
is  the  consciousness  that  it  is  in  the 
midst  of  Power. 

For  this  reason  the  first  concept  in 
the  Ideal  of  "Our  Father "  is  that 
He  is  Power.  But  for  sake  of  eu- 
phony probably,  it  is.  ^ut  second  in 
the  titles  here.  Absolute  Power 
must  still  be  our  conception  of  the 
Universe.  '  *  The  Power  behind  phe- 
nomena "  must  be  absolute. 
"For  thine  is  the  Kingdom!"  is  the 

146 


recognition  of  Organized  Power,  of 
Government,  and  naturally  follows 
the  first  conception.  A  Ruler  is  the 
symbol  of  organization,  even  though 
he  be  an  autocrat  as  was  the  He- 
brew conception  of  Jehovah.  "Our 
Father "  is  the  governor  of  an  Or- 
ganized Universe; — is  Law  and  Or- 
der. 

"And  the  Glory !"  Glory  is  the 
symbol  of  success,  of  Greatness, 
Wisdom  in  manifestation.  The 
glory  of  a  king  is  the  external  trap- 
pings, official  authority  to  compel 
obedience  on  part  of  his  subjects. 
All  this  the  Father  has. 
A  more  perfect  conception  cannot 
be  made  of  the  Being  who  is  Au- 
thor of  All. 

In  our  present  conception,  we  can 
accept  all  these  and  weave  them 
into  our  Ideal,  because  while  we 
"live,  move  and  have  our  Being !" 
in  Him,  He  also  has  His  expression 
through  us.  We  are  one. 

Never  severed  from   thy   heart, 
Never    parted    from    thy    side, 
Still  as  in  that  later  dawn, 

147 


In  thy  bosom  I  abide. 
Still  as  in  the  early  dark, 

Ere    the    worlds    began    to    be, 
Thou  my  God  and  I  are  One — 

Thou  in  me  and  I  in  Thee. 

— Chadwick. 

That  which  I  in  the  Real  am  is  this 
same  Being  whose  is  "The  Power, 
the  Kingdom  and  the  Glory."  I 
share  all  He  is.  I  do  not  possess, 
but  I  AM  all  this.  And  I  am  be- 
cause He  is. 

From  this  survey  we  can  accept  the 
ascription,  because  in  it  we  incor- 
porate not  only  our  Ideal  of  the 
One  who  is  All-in-Ail,  but  because 
it  also  represents  our  Ideal  of  the 
Self  which  is  unfolding  into  con- 
sciousness through  manifestation 
in  me  as  ever  it  has  been  unfolding 
in  manifestations  through  the  Ages 
in  all  forms  of  Itself  prior  to  the 
coming  of  Man. 

With  perfect  sincerity  I  can  pray 
to  "Our  Father, "  and  with  equal 
sincerity  I  can  declare  "Thou  who 
art  Power,  Kingdom  and  Glory!" 
This  is  Spirit,  the  same  which  in- 
spired the  first  man  "who  stood 

148 


God-conquered "  by  his  perception 
and  recognition  of  Power  in  wild 
beast  and  tornado;  is  the  same  spir- 
it which  inspires  the  devotee  at 
shrine  or  at  crucible.  It  makes  me 
One  with  all  men,  and  with  the  All! 
I  can  worship  in  love  and  Truth, 
and  can  feel  that  no  matter  where 
men  pray  that  I  am  praying  with 
them  for  the  Ideal  to  come  on  earth 
as  they  in  their  way  and  on  their 
plane  are  also  praying, 
Thus  this  Prayer  can  become,  and 
probably  will  become,  the  Univer- 
sal Prayer.  It  will  when  men  shall 
cease  to  seek  God,  but  shall  accept 
present  Good.  When  they  shall 
cease  to*  pray  intellectually,  but  shall 
pray  in  Spirit.  They  will  then  send 
their  love  and  truth  out  in  desire  for 
the  All-Good  to  reign.  Then  will 
the  promise  of  the  Angels'  Song 
become  a  fact  and  with  "  Peace  on 
earth "  will  blend  "Our  Father  who 
art  in  heaven !" 


149 


So  homelike  seems  that  vast  Unknown 
Since  they  have  entered  there! 

To  follow  them  were  not  so  hard 
Wherever  they  may  fare! 

They  cannot  be  where  God  is  not, 

On  any  sea  or  shore. 
Whate'er  betides  our  God  abides, — 

Our  God,  forever! 

— John  W.  Chadwick. 


It  seemeth  such  a  little  way  to  me 
Across  to  that  strange  country — The  Be- 
yond; 

And  yet,  not  strange,  for  it  has  grown  to  be 
The    home   of   those   of  whom   I    am    so 

fond, 

They  make  it  seem  familiar  and  most  dear, 
As  journeying  friends  bring  distant  regions 
near. 

So  close  it  lies,  that  when  my  sight  is  clear 

I  think  I  almost  see  the  gleaming  strand. 

I  know  I  feel  those  who  have   gone  from 

here 
Come   near   enough   sometimes   to    touch 

my  hand. 

I  often  think,  but  for  our  veiled  eyes 
We  should  find  Heaven  right  round  about 
us  lies. 

—Ella  Wheeler  Wilcox. 

150 


FOREVER." 

INE  is  the  Kingdom,  and 
the  Power,  and  the  Grlory 
*  *  *  Forever !"  Among 
the  errors  that  from  a  remote 
past  still  cling  to  the  present, 
there  are  none  more  detrimen- 
tal to  health,  unfoldment  and  hap- 
piness than  the  delusions  and  illu- 
sions in  regard  to  Life  and  Time. 
We  measure  Life  in  Time  as  we 
measure  wheat  in  bushels  and  iron 
in  pounds,  as  if  it  were  a  certain 
quantity  to  be  cared  for  and  meas- 
ured in  years,  months  and  days. 
Individuals  are  machines,  like  a 
clock  manufactured  to  run  a  certain 
time,  and  then  "the  sands  of  life 
are  run  out,"  and  the  person  is  not 
— he  is  dead.  Life  has  an  end;  so 
we  have  been  taught.  This  limita- 
tion, and  this  measuring  of  Life 

161 


"  makes  cowards  of  us  all."  The 
fear  of  fears  is  the  fear  of  death.  It 
is  rightly  so,  for  through  this  fear 
Life  protects  itself;  Self -Protection 
is  the  first  expression  of  one's  indi- 
viduality. To  the  extent  that  I  ex- 
press, I  live.  Any  submission  to 
authority  is  a  limitation  of  expres- 
sion, and  is  death.  The  only  possi- 
ble death  is  non-expression.  Were 
it  possible  to  sink  entirely  one's  in- 
dividuality, annihilation  would  re- 
sult. Limitation  is  the  only  death, 
and  it  exists  in  these  limitations  of 
Time  and  Space. 

That  Life  may  have  appearance  to 
the  objective  vision,  Mind  must  take 
on  the  illusion  of  Space.  To  retain 
Individuality  through  the  constant 
changes  of  consciousness,  Mind, 
through  Memory,  must  take  on  the 
illusion  of  Time.  These  are  to  con- 
sciousness realities  only  as  condi- 
tions of  Itself.  But  they  have  no 
objective  reality.  They  are  terms 
in  which  the  individual  conscious- 
ness interprets  its  experiences. 

152 


To  him  who  lives  on  the  objective 
plane,  they  are  realities,  because  he, 
by  thinking  them  such,  makes  them 
such,  and  measures  and  limits  his 
individual  expression  of  Life  by 
them.  They  have  no  subjective  real- 
ity; they  belong  to  the  sense-plane, 
which  is  the  plane  of  animal  life, 
and  not  to  the  plane  of  the  Human, 
which  is  spiritual.  They  have  no 
place  in  the  realm  of  the  Self-Con- 
scious Spirit.  Remember  Hegel's 
definition  of  Man:  "Man  is  Spirit 
conscious  of  Itself  I"  To  live  in 
thoughts  of  Time  and  Space  is  not 
living  in  consciousness  of  the  I  AM 
as  Spirit.  It  is  living  in  the  con- 
sciousness of  the  limitations  of  that 
manifestation  of  Spirit  we  term 
matter.  Not  "Spirit  conscious  of 
Itself, "  but  Spirit  conscious  of  that 
which  is  not  Self,  and  which  in  this 
recognition  of  it,  controls  Self. 
To  the  masses,  however  intelligent 
they  may  be  on  the  intellectual 
plane  of  expression,  the  Affirmation 
that  controls  is,  "I  am  body!"  and 
153 


when  body  dematerializes  the  I  AM 
in  their  thought  has  only  a  possible 
existence.  They  ask,  "The  Soul, 
what  and  where  is  it ! "  "  Thine  is ! " 
How  long  is  IS?  "There  is  a  natu- 
ral body  and  there  is  a  spiritual 
body,"  says  Paul.  How  long  is  IS 
hel-e?  IS  means  NOW.  How  long 
is  NOW!  Did  one  ever  think  to 
measure  it!  It  does  not  exist,  save 
as  a  continuous  state  of  conscious- 
ness. Were  the  I  AM  to  lose  con- 
sciousness the  billionth  -  billionth 
fraction  of  a  second,  there  would 
be,  for  it,  annihilation  as  an  indivi- 
duality. It  would  retur.ii  to  the 
Cosmic  Consciousness;  loose  itself 
in  the  One.  Now  is  not  measurable ; 
it  is  the  FOEEVEE.  NOW  IS.  Now 
is  not  a  portion  of  Time:  it  is  not  a 
measure.  It  is  a  recognition  of  the 
fact— I  AM  LIFE!  Not,  I  am  alive, 
but  I  AM  LIFE.  Consciousness 
and  Life  in  the  Human  are  one. 
Time  past  and  time  to  be  have  no 
place  in  Consciousness.  I  am  con- 
scious only  of  that  which  is.  Yes- 

154 


terday  is  dead,  and  tomorrow  is  un- 
born; neither  are  anything  to  me. 
They  both  are  now.  By  emphasiz- 
ing this  word,  we  see  that  yesterday 
and  tomorrow  both  are  now,  in  the 
only  possible  way  they  can  exist, 
and  that  is  in  my  thought;  they  are 
creations  for  me  to  use  as  a  man 
uses  tools.  They  are  measures  of 
Now.  I  keep  a  record  of  my  unf  old- 
ment  in  my  consciousness  through 
this  artificial  measure,  called  Time, 
just  as  the  mariner  keeps  a  record 
of  his  voyages  by  the  measure  of 
latitude  and  longitude  which  have 
no  reality  outside  his  thought;  or 
as  I  measure  my  country  by  lines 
that  have  no  reality  save  as  the 
thoughts  and  consent  of  men  give 
them  reality.  "The  equator  is  an 
imaginary  line!"  we  teach  our  chil- 
dren. Sometime  we  will  teach  them 
that  years  and  days  are  imaginary 
measurements  of  Life.  As  the  sun 
and  earth  never  stop,  and  the  dawn 
line  always  IS  somewhere,  we  shall 
sometime  see  the  truth  of  Longfel- 

155 


low's  last  line,  manifest  in  our  ex- 
periences : 

Out  of  the  shadow  of  night, 
The  world  rolls  into  the  light — 
It    is   daybreak    everywhere! 

One  day  I  recognize  a  new  expres- 
sion of  power,  love,  truth,  or  wis- 
dom, and  that  day  is  ever  long  to 
my  consciousness.  I,  through  a  fall, 
lose  all  thought  and  there  is  no  rec- 
ord in  Consciousness  of  Time.  Some 
hours  are  longer  than  years.  The 
day  love  for  the  first  time  fires  the 
heart;  the  day  grief  overpowers; 
the  day  of  a  panic;  the  day  of  joy; 
the  day  of  some  great  catastrophe; 
how  long  they  are.  The  dull  day 
when  I  wearied  through  it.  How 
short  it  now  seems! 
Thus  Time  is  but  the  registry  upon 
the  dial  of  Consciousness  of  the 
passing  shadow  of  the  ever-moving 
panoramic  phenomena  of  Life — a 
name  only  and  not  a  thing;  not  a 
condition  even,  and  has  no  mean- 
ing in  relation  to  Life  itself. 
Thine — mine — forever!  No  begin- 

156 


ning!  No  ending!  Always  is!  For- 
ever? That  is  NOW!  "When  all  is 
mine!  Forever,  but  since  Forever 
is  Now,  then  all  is  mine  now.  All 
that  is  eternal  now  is.  My  present 
conception  is  but  the  recognition  of 
that  which  is  forever.  Then  I,  since 
I  am  conscious  of  my  Self,  am  for- 
ever. I  am  eternal.  Eternity  is 
Now! 

With  this  understanding  of  Time 
we  can  say,  I  live  in  the  conscious- 
ness of  unfoldment.  I  measure  my 
unfolding  consciousness  of  that 
strength,  but  even  this  prayer  is 
weakness,  because  it  implies  doubt. 
which  I  am  in  reality,  by  years  and 
days.  With  this  affirmation  we  can 
enjoy  the  fullness  of  Mrs.  Pitten- 
ger's  masterful  and  beautiful  lines: 

"I   stand  in  the  Great  Forever 

With  Thee  as  eternities   roll. 
Thy  Spirit  forsaketh  me  never! 

Thy  love  is  the  home  of  my  soul." 

I  can  realize  that  I  do  not  live,  but 
that  Life  lives  through  me.  That  I 
do  not  possess  Life  but  that  I  AM 
LIFE!  That  I  do  not  have  Life, 

157 


but  that  Life  lias  me.  I  shall  know 
that  Life  is  infinite  and  eternal,  and 
can  affirm: 

"O  God,  I  am  one  forever 
With  Thee  by  the  glory  of  birth!" 

I  shall  live  in  this  God-conscious- 
ness and  know  only  those  experi- 
ences that  can  come  to  Spirit,  with- 
out the  possibility  of  any  limitations 
of  the  flesh;  live  in  that  larger  con- 
sciousness of  Self  that  knows  Itself 
limitless  Life,  and  Love  and  Truth. 
I  AM!  When!  Now!  Forever! 
Why,  then,  fear  the  illusion  of 
death  ?  Why  talk  of  '  '  loss  of  life, ' ' 
of  "waste  of  life,"  of  "neglected 
opportunities,"  of  "failures"!  No 
matter  what  I  have  done  with  days 
or  years,  I  AM  FOBEVER!  And 
all  these  experiences  are  preparing 
me  to  know  my  Self  in  the  Great 
Forever. 

I  am  Life !  How  much  Life  I  All  of 
Life.  Just  as  when  I  wish  to  bathe 
or  to  use  water  in  any  way, 
all  the  ocean  is  mine.  Just 
as  this  morning  as  I  wrought 

158 


in  my  garden  all  the  sun- 
shine was  mine,  and  as  it  is  mine 
as  I  sit  by  my  window  and  see  it 
shining  through  my  pagoda-like 
redwood  by  the  creek.  All  is  mine 
to  use! 

All  fears  encouraged  by  doctors, 
health  boards,  teachers,  press  and 
the  home,  of  loss,  waste,  and  end  of 
Life,  and  the  accompanying  condi- 
tions of  sorrow,  repentance,  re- 
morse; of  good  resolutions  for  fu- 
ture and  of  endeavors  to  be  l  i  good'  ' 
after  the  conventional  standard,  are 
worse  than  useless,  because  they 
are  limitations  upon  the  FOREVER 
in  which  I,  as  LIFE,  require  Lib- 
erty, would  I  be,  in  expression,  that 
which  Life  is — healthful,  happy  and 
prosperous.  I  am  Now!  is  the  Af- 
firmation of  Power.  I  was!  I  will 
be!  are  affirmations  of  the  absence 
of  Life,  and  therefore  affirmations 
of  weakness,  disease  and  failure. 
The  past  is  dead.  Conditions, 
thoughts,  conduct  of  yesterday  are 
dead — "Let  the  dead  bury  the 

159 


dead!"  was  His  wise  command. 
"Fears  are  dupes  and  hopes  are 
liars."  Have  nothing  to  do  with 
either.  BE  now!  Affirm  and  ex- 
press now,  and  thus  forever,  that 
which  yon  desire.  I  am  now  and 
forever  that  which  I  declare  myself 
to  be. 

All  thought  of  waste  and  misuse  of 
Life  is  an  evil.  It  causes  a  back- 
ward look,  and  Lot's  wife  learned 
that  such  a  look  stopped  her  ex- 
pression of  Life  on  that  plane.  Such 
thoughts  check  the  flow  of  Life  and 
bring  all  the  attendant  results  that 
want  ever  brings.  There  is  ALL 
life  for  him  who  lays  up  treasures 
in  the  heaven  within.  Life  has  little 
joy  for  him  who  neglects  heaven, 
and  lays  up  treasures  on  the  ma- 
terial plane. 

Life  I  AM!  and  all  expressions  are 
that  I  may  learn  what  I  AM  as  Life. 
In  this  thought  I  never  did  anything 
that  was  not  good  for  me,  and  caJQ 
never  have  any  experience  that  is 
not  good.  I  will  never  use  the  Life 

160 


I  AM  in  self-abasement,  in  self-con- 
demnation; in  self-torture.  I  will 
always  let  my  heart  beat  in  unison 
with  that  iron  string,  "Trust  Thy- 
self! ' '  Will  always  affirm  my  unity 
with  Eternal  Life,  and  declare  that 
I  AM  one  with  the  All-Good  and 
thus  all  I  do  or  think  is  good.  I 
learn  how  to  think  that  which 
brings  health  and  happiness,  by 
thinking  and  choosing.  I  let  the 
King  who  is  Power  and  Glory  with- 
in, rule!  I  affirm:  "I  DWELL  IN 
THE  HOUSE  OF  THE  LOED  .  . 
FOREVER." 


What  doth  that  Holy  Guide  require? 
No  rite  of  pain,  no  gift  of  blood! 
But  man,  a  kindly  brotherhood, 
Looking  where  duty  is  desire, 
To  Him  the  beautiful  and  good. 

— -Whitticr. 


161 


The  universe  is  God's  unfenced  and  all-in- 
clusive communion  table,  and  every  act  of 
humane  ministration,  every  helpful  hand 
stretched  out  to  the  weak  or  the  fallen  is 
as  sacred  a  rite  as  the  holy  Eucharist. — 
James  Thompson  Bixby,  Ph.  D. 


"I  AM,  forever!     Stars  I'll  say, 
I  AM!  when  ye  for  aye  have  lost 

All  power  to  be!    Then  still  I  may 
Bid  other  stars,  a  mighty  host 

Fill  brighter  skies,  for    Thought  am  I! 
And  things  are  into  Being  tossed 

By  One  Self-Conscious  Unity. 

Sped  on  Star-steeds!     Rejoice  awhile 
As  sunbright  centers  of  the  One! 

I,  Human  Soul,  can  only  smile, 
For  I  speed  on  when  ye  are  gone. 

I  am  forever  still  the  same! 

I  share  with  God  Creation's  throne! 

But  sun  and  star,  ye  are  but  a  name!" 
— Henry  Harrison  Brown. 


162 


AMEN! 

IS     word     is     a     common 

ending    to    prayer.     Usually; 

derived  from  the  Hebrew 
verb  meaning  "  to  be  firm ' '  or 
from  a  Hebrew  noun  meaning 
"  Truth  I"  It  is  usually  rendered 
"So  be  it"  or  "so  let  it  be"  or  "So 
may  it  be". 

Here  it  seems  to  refer  to  the  whole 
purpose  of  the  Prayer  and  intestifies 
the  desire  by  saying  at  the  close — 
"In  Truth  I  repeat  my  petition  1  In 
faith  I  believe  that  what  I  ask  will 
be  granted!"  It  is  like  the  seal  at- 
tached by  an  official  to  a  document. 
It  attests  the  genuineness  of  the 
petition. 

To  us  it  will  mean  hereafter  all  we 
include  in  the  word  "Sincerity". 
It  is  for  us  the  word  of  faith.  With 
every  earnest  desire  we  will  add 
"Amen!"  as  evidence  of  our  truth- 
fulness. 

"May  thy  kingdom  come"  I  ask  in 
sincerity.  I  place  the  seal  of  my 
faith  here  in  the  symbol — AMEN  ! 

163 


Man  shall  not  ask  his  brother  any  more, 
"Believest  thou?"  but  "Lovest  thou!"  till  all 
Shall  answer  at  God's  altar,  "Lord,  I  love!" 
For  Hope,  may  anchor,  faith  may  steer,  but 

Love, 

Great  Love  alone,  is  captain  of  the  soul 
— Henry  Barnard   Carpenter. 


How  slight  soe'er  the  motion  be 

With  palpitating  hand, 
The  gentlest  breaker  of  the  sea 

Betrays  it  to  the  land. 
And  though  a  vaster  mystery 

Has  set  our  souls  apart, 
Each  wafture  from  Eternity, 

Reveals  thee  to  my  heart. 

—John  B.  Tabb. 


164 


THE  SILENT  HOUR. 


Let  us  offer  to  the  gods  a  soul  wherein  the 
laws  of  God  are  blended — a  heart  pure  to 

its    inmost      depths a      breast    ingrained 

with  a  noble  sense  of  honor.  Let  me  but 
bring  these  with  me  to  the  altar,  and  I  care 
not  though  my  offering  be  but  a  handful 
of  corn. — Persius,  an  old  Latin  poet. 


Sometimes   there   comes   an   hour   of   calm; 
Grief  turns  to  blessing,  pain  to  balm; 
A  Power  that  works  above  my  will 
Still  leads  me  upward,  onward  still; 
And  then  my  heart  attains  to  this; — 
To  thank  Thee  for  the  things  I  miss. 

— T.  W.  Higginson. 

165 


A  profoundly  grateful  and  loving  heart  is 
slow  in  verbal  prayer  and  exquisitely  deli- 
cate in  profession. — Andrew  Jackson  Davis. 


I  hold  to  one  true  church  of  all  true  souls, 
Whose   church  seal  is    neither     bread    nor 

wine, 

Nor  laying  on  of  hands,  nor  holy  oil, 
But  only  in  the  anointing  of  God's  grace. 
— Theodore  Tilton. 


I  find  my  own  in  every  land! 
It  comes  to  me  with  every  wave! 
It  passes  current  hand  to  hand! 
'Tis  brought  by  coward  and  by  brave! 

On  fertile  or  on  desert  shore, 

Though  I  may  stand  by  ebbing  tide! 

I  have  my  Self!     What  need  I  more? 
My  Soul  and  I  and  naught  beside! 

Naught  but  my  own,  on  land  or  sea, 

By  wind  or  wave,  storm  brought  or  calm, 

Can  come  to  me!     And  mine  I  claim; 
And  peaceful  float  secure  from  harm! 
— Henry  Harrison  Brown. 


166 


ONE  OF  THEODORE  PARKER'S 
PRAYERS. 

Sept.  19,  1858. 

OThou  Infinite  presence,  who  art  every- 
where, we  flee  unto  thee  for  a 
moment  who  art  always  near  un- 
to us!  We  would  be  conscious  of 
thy  power,  thy  wisdom,  thy  justice 
and  thy  love;  and  while  we  feel  thee 
most  intimate  in  our  hearts,  we  would 
remember  before  thee  our  joys  and  our  sor- 
rows, our  hopes  and  our  fears,  whatever 
of  virtue  we  have  attained  to,  and  the 
transgression  wherewith  we  defile  our  soul. 
May  the  words  of  our  mouths  and  the 
meditation  of  our  hearts  be  acceptable  in 
thy  sight,  O  Lord,  our  Strength  and  our 
Redeemer! 

O  Thou  Infinite  Giver  of  all  things;  we 
thank  thee  for  this  great,  rich  world,  where 
thou  casteth  the  lines  of  our  lot.  We  thank 
thee  for  the  exceeding  beauty  which  Thou 
hast  scattered  throughout  the  heavens  and 
everywhere  on  this  broad  earth  of  thine. 
We  thank  thee  that  thou  hast  molded  every 
leaf  into  a  form  of  beauty,  and  glpbest  ev- 
ery ripening  berry  into  symmetric  loveli- 
ness; that  thou  scatterest  along  the  road- 
sides of  the  world  and  on  the  fringes  of 

167 


the  farmer's  field  such  wealth  and  luxuri- 
ance of  beauty  to  charm  our  eyes  from 
things  too  sensual,  and  slowly  lift  us  up  to 
that  which  is  spiritual  in  its  loveliness  and 
cannot  pass  away. 

We  thank  thee  for  the  glory  which  walks 
abroad  at  night,  for  the  moon  with  inter- 
changing of  waxing  and  waning  beauty, 
shedding  her  silver  radiance  across  the 
darkness;  for  every  fixed  and  wandering 
star  whose  bearded  presence  startles  us 
with  strange  and  fairest  light,  and  for  the 
imperial  sun  that  from  his  ambrosial  urn 
pours  down  the  day  on  field  and  town,  on 
rich  and  poor,  baptizing  the  world  with  joy. 
We  thank  thee  for  the  ground  underneath 
our  feet,  whence  the  varied  particles  of  our 
bodies  are  so  curiously  taken  and  wonder- 
fully framed  together.  We  thank  thee  for 
the  Spring,  which  brought  her  handsome 
promise,  for  the  gorgeous  preparation 
which  the  Summer  made  in  his  manly 
strength,  and  we  bless  thee  for  the  months 
of  Autumn  whose  sober  beauty  is  cast  on 
every  hill  and  every  tree.  We  thank  thee 
for  the  harvests  which  the  toil  and  the 
thought  of  man  have  gathered  already  from 
the  surface  of  the  ground  or  have  digged 
from  its  bosom.  We  bless  thee  for  other 
harvests  still  growing  beneath  the  earth, 
or  hanging  in  autumnal  beauties  from  many 
a  tree,  all  over  our  blessed  Northern  land. 
We  thank  thee  likewise  for  this  great  hu- 
man world  which  ourselves  make  up.  We 
bless  thee  for  the  glorious  nature  which 
thou  has  given  us,  for  these  bodies  so  curi- 
ously and  wonderfully  made,  and  for  this 
overmastering  Spirit  which  enchants  into 

168 


life  this  handful  of  fascinating  clay.  We 
bless  thee  for  the  large  faculties  thou  hast 
given  us,  and  the  unbounded  means  for 
development  afforded  by  our  daily  toil.  We 
thank  thee  for  the  glorious  destination 
which  thou  hast  set  before  us,  appointing 
us  our  duties  to  do,  and  giving  us  that 
grand  and  lasting  welfare  which  thou  wilt 
never  fail  to  bestow  on  all  and  each  who 
ask  it  with  their  prayer  and  toil. 
Father,  we  thank  thee  for  the  work  which 
our  hands  find  to  do  on  earth.  We  bless 
thee  that  the  process  of  our  toil  is  educa- 
tion for  our  body  and  our  mind,  for  our  con- 
science, for  our  heart  and  soul.  We  thank 
thee  for  the  reward  that  comes  as  the  result 
of  our  word;  yea,  we  bless  thee  for  the 
houses  we  live  in,  for  the  garments  we 
wear,  woven  up  of  thoughtful  human  toil; 
for  the  bread  we  eat,  and  the  beauty  we 
gather  from  the  ground  or  create  from  the 
manifold  material  things  which  thou  hast 
given  us. 

We  thank  thee  for  those  who  are  near  and 
dear  to  us,  the  benediction  of  our  daily 
bread,  the  presence  of  blessing  in  our 
house,  the  chief  ornament  of  our  human 
life.  We  thank  thee  for  new-born  bless- 
ings which  thou  sendest  into  the  arms  of 
father  and  of  mother,  to  gladden  them  not 
only,  but  likewise  relative  and  friend,  and 
to  people  the  earth  with  new  generations 
of  progressive  men. 

Father,  we  remember  before  thee  likewise 
that  other  world  which  transcends  the  earth 
of  matter  and  the  world  of  human  things; 
we  thank  thee  for  that  world  which  eye  has 
not  seen,  nor  ear  heard,  nor  the  heart  of 


man  fully  conceived.  We  bless  thee  for  the 
spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect,  who  have 
gone  before  us  into  that  kingdom  of  heav- 
en, to  shine  like  the  morning  stars  of  earth, 
free  from  all  the  noises  which  harass  the 
world.  Father,  we  remember  before  thee 
those  dear  to  our  hearts  still,  though  severed 
from  our  side,  and  if  we  dare  not  thank 
thee  when  father  or  mother,  husband  or 
wife,  when  son  or  daughter,  when  kinsfolk 
and  acquaintance  have  their  countenance 
changed,  and  they  themselves  are  born 
anew  into  thy  kingdom,  we  still  thank  thee, 
that  we  are  sure  they  are  with  thee,  that  no 
evil  befalls  the  little  one,  or  the  mature 
one,  or  the  aged,  but  the  arms  of  thy  love 
are  about  them,  and  thou  leadest  them  ever 
forward  and  upward. 

O  Thou,  who  art  Infinite  Perfection!  we 
thank  thee  for  thyself!  And  we  know  that 
out  of  thy  power,  thy  wisdom,  thy  justice 
and  thy  love,  have  flowed  forth  this  world 
of  matter  and  this  world  of  man,  and  that 
kingdom  of  heaven  whereinto  we  all  hope 
to  enter  at  last.  We  thank  thee  for  thy 
loving  kindness  and  thy  tender  mercy, 
which  are  over  all  thy  works,  and  where  we 
cannot  see,  save  through  a  glass  darkly, 
we  will  still  trust  thee,  with  infinite  long- 
ing and  with  absolute  confidence,  and  that 
love  which  casteth  out  fear. 
Father  in  heaven!  so  gifted  as  we  are,  so 
surrounded  and  so  destined  for  immortal 
welfare,  we  pray  thee  that  we  may  live 
great  and  noble  lives  on  earth,  unfolding 
our  nature  day  by  day,  using  our  bodies 
for  their  purpose,  and  the  soul  for  its  higher 
use,  growing  wiser  and  better  as  we  change 

170 


time  into  life  and  daily  work  into  exalted 
character.  So  may  we  live  that  every  day 
we  learn  some  new  truth,  practice  some 
new  virtue,  and  become  dearer  and  more 
beautiful  in  thine  own  sight.  So  may  thy 
kingdom  come,  and  thy  will  be  done  on 
earth  as  it  is  in  heaven. — From  "Prayers 
by  Theodore  Parker,"  Boston:  Walker,  Ful- 
ler &  Co.,  1866. 


RUE  prayer  is  not  a  petitioning,  but 
a  claiming.  It  is  begotten  not  of  in- 
firmity of  will,  but  of  assurance — is 
not  weakness  but  strength.  He  that  appre- 
hends the  nature  of  prayer  bends  not  the 
knee,  but  towers  in  majesty.  He  goes  forth 
to  meet  his  own;  he  ascends  the  mount  to 
speak  with  God.  .  .  .  Prayers  are  not 
spoken,  but  lived.  Our  lives  are  our  prayers, 
and  they  are  answered  each  after  its  own 
kind. — Stanton  Davis  Kirkham,  in  "Where 
Dwells  the  Soul  Serene." 


171 


WITH  gladness  we  would  serve  Thee 
this  morning,  Father,  gladness  for  the 
inspirations  of  the  past,  gladness  in 
the  revelations  of  the  present,  and  we  pray 
that  we  may  look  into  the  future  with  glad- 
ness. May  we  anticipate  the  unseen  with 
courage  and  greet  the  unknown  with  a 
cheer.  May  we  trust,  where  we  cannot  see 
and  hope,  where  we  may  not  prove.  In 
the  midst  of  turmoil  and  hatred,  of  jealousy 
and  bitterness,  of  opposition  and  warfare, 
may  we  hear  this  morning  the  lark's  song 
of  peace,  a  Song  in  the  hearts  of  thy  chil- 
dren, which  ushers  in  the  coming  day — the 
glad  song  of  anticipation  which  thrills  in 
the  hearts  of  birds  and  men  in  this  budding 
season  of  new  hopes  and  new  revelations. 
Make  us  glad  in  the  children  thou  hast  giv- 
en us,  in  the  manliness  and  womanliness  of 
middle  life,  even  in  the  weakness  and  tot- 
tering helplessness  of  old  age.  Even  more 
glad  as  becomes  children  of  thine,  residents 
in  this  rolling  world  that  swings  ever  into 
daylight  and  moves  ever  towards  the  frui- 
tion of  hope  and  love.  Amen. — Prayer  by 
Rev.  Jenkin  Lloyd  Jones. 


172 


DIVINE  SCIENCE  "STATEMENT  OF 
BEING  AND  INTERPRETATION 
OF  THE  LORD'S  PRAYER". 

6OD   is   ALL  there   is,  both  visible  and 
invisible. 

One  Presence,  Knowledge  and  Power, 
is  ALL. 

This  One  that  is  ALL  is  Perfect  Life,  In- 
telligence  and   Substance. 
Man  is  the  Expression  of  God,  and  is  ever 
One    with    this     Perfect    Life,    Intelligence 
and  Substance. 


Our  Father  which  art  in  haven, 

Hallowed   is  thy  name. 

Thy  kingdom  is  come;  thy  will  is  done  on 

earth  as  it  is  in  heaven. 

Thou  givest  each  day  our  daily  bread. 

Thou  forgivest  our  debts  as  we  forgive  our 

debtors. 

Thou   leadest   us   not   into   temptation;   but 

dost  deliver  us  from  all  evil. 

For  thine  is   the  kingdom,   the   power  and 

the  glory  forever  and  ever.     Amen. 


173 


HELP  THOU  MINE  UNBELIEF. 

BECAUSE    I    seek    Thee    not,   oh,    seek 
thou  me! 
Because  my  lips  are  dumb,  oh  hear  the 

cry 

I  do  not  utter  as  thou  passeth  by, 
And  from  my  lifelong  bondage  set  me  free! 
Because,  content  I  perish  far  from  Thee, 
O   seize   me,   snatch     me   from     my  fate 

and   try 
My  soul  in  Thy  consuming  fire!       Draw 

nigh 

And  let  me  blinded,  Thy  salvation  see! 
If  I  were  pouring  at  thy  feet  my  tears. 
If  I  were  clamoring  to  see  Thy  face, 
I  should  not  need  Thee  as  now  I  need/" 
Whose  dumb,  dead  soul  knows  neither  hope 

nor  fears, 
Nor    dreads    the    outer    darkness    of    this 

place — 

Because   I    seek   Thee   not,   pray   not,   give 
Thou  heed! 

— Louise  Chandler  MoultonT" 


174 


OGod,  wherever  I  happen  to  look  I 
find  thy  seekers;  whatever  language 
I  hear  spoken,  speaks  of  Thee. 
Apostacy  and  faith  feel  after  Thee. 
Each  religion  says,  Thou  are  One 
without  a  Second.  If  it  be  in  a 
mosque,  people  murmur  in  holy  prayers; 
if  it  be  in  a  temple,  people  ring 
bells  in  love  of  Thee.  Sometimes  I  fre- 
quent the  temple,  sometimes  the  mosque. 
But  it  is  Thou  whom  I  seek  from  door  to 
door.  Thy  elect  have  no  dealings  with 
heresy  or  orthodoxy,  for  neither  of  them 
know  the  Light  behind  the  vail.  Heresy 
to  the  heretic  and  faith  to  the  faithful,  but 
the  dust  of  the  rose-petal  belongs  to  the 
heart  of  the  perfume-seller. — Words  en- 
graved on  the  front  of  the  Temple  which 
Akbar  built  for  use  of  Hindoo  and  Mo- 
hammedan in  Kashmere. 


175 


CHOU  who  hast  made  Thy  dwelling  fair 
With    flowers    beneath,     above    with 

starry  lights, 
And  set  Thine  altars  everywhere — 

On  mountain  heights, 
In  woodlands  dim  with  many  a  dream, 

In  valleys  bright  with  spring, 
And  on  the  curving  cape  of  every  stream; 
Thou,   who     hast     taken   to   Thyself   the 

wings 

Of  morning,  to  abide 
Upon  the  secret  places  of  the  sea 

And  on  far  islands,  where  the  tide 
Visits  the  beauty  of  untrodden  shores, 

Waiting  for  worshippers  to  come  to  Thee 
In  Thy  great  Out-Of-Doors! 
To   Thee   I    turn,     to     Thee   I   make  my 

prayer — 
God  of  the  Open  Air! 

— Henry  Van  Dyke. 


176 


THE  CHILD'S  PRAYER. 

PROBABLY  the  most  far-fetched  in- 
struction that  was  ever  inculcated 
into  the  mind  of  a  child  was 
when  he  learned  to  say  ''Now  I  lay 
me  down  to  sleep".  To  the  child  it 
meant  something  more  than  merely  the 
effort  to  see  something  just  out  of  the  range 
of  vision,  or  to  taste  something  that  looked 
as  though  it  would  be  good  to  eat,  or  to 
run  after  a  butterfly  in  order  to  get  a  closer 
view  of  its  wings,  its  colors  and  its  beauty; 
because  now  he  was  going  into  the  dark 
and  everything  upon  which  he  leaned  would 
be  shut  out  from  his  vision.  He  was 
taught  that  somewhere  out  in  the  great  un- 
seen world,  in  the  darkness  which  seemed 
itself  to  be  visible,  there  was  a  power  that 
would  sustain  him,  a  power  that  would 
penetrate  this  darkness  with  its  strength, 
its  safety,  its  health  and  its  life.  There 
he  was  taught  to  commit  the  higher  part  of 
himself,  which  he  called  his  soul,  into  the 
keeping  of  his  Father  and  if  by  any  chance 
his  soul,  when  it  went  out  on  its  free  mis- 
sion into  space  should  fail  to  get  back,  the 
Father  who  guided  it  out  was  requested  to 
keep  it.  That  little  prayer  is  a  wonderful 
prayer.  I  would  not  forget  it  for  anything 
in  the  world  because  it  enunciates  a  state- 
ment which  any  child  can  understand,  that 
gives  itself  into  the  keeping  of  a  Higher 
Being. — Sidney  A.  Welnmer  in  New 
Thought  Companion. 


177 


AN  IDEAL  PRAYER. 

Not  more  of  light  I  ask,  O  God! 

But  eyes  to  see  what  is. 

Not  sweeter  songs,  but  power  to  hear 

The    present    melodies. 

Not  greater  strength,  but  how  to  use 

The  power  that  I  possess. 

Not  more  of  Love,  but  skill  to  turn 

A  frown  to  a  caress. 

Not  more  of  Joy,  but  power  to  feel 

Its   kindling  presence    near, 

To  give  to  others  all  I  have 

Of  courage  and  of  cheer. 

No  other  gift,  dear  God!  I  ask, 

But  only  sense  to  see 

How  best  the  precious  gifts  to  use 

Thou  hast  bestowed  on  me. 

Give  me  all  Fears  to  dominate, 

All  holy  Joys  to  know, 

To  be  the  friend  I  wish  to  be, 

To  speak  the  Truth  I  know. 

To  love  the  pure,  to  seek  the  Good, 

To   lift  with  all  my  might; 

All  souls  to  dwell  in  harmony 

Is  freedom's  perfect  light. 

— London   Light. 


178 


HOME  OF  TRUTH 
CHILD'S  PRAYER. 

God  is  my  help  in  every  need. 
God  does  my  every  hunger  feed. 
God  walks  beside  me,  guides  my  way, 
Through  every  moment  of  this  day. 
I  now  am  wise,  I  now  am  true, 
Patient,  kind  and  loving,  too; 
All  things  I  am,  can  do  and  be, 
Through  Christ,  the  truth  that  is  in  me. 
God  is  my  health,  I  can't  be  sick, 
God   is  my  strength,  unfailing  quick; 
God  is  my  all,  I  know  no  fear, 
Since   God   and  Love     and     Truth  are 
here. 


CHRISTIAN  SCIENCE  PRAYER 
FOR  A  CHILD. 

Now  I  lay  me  down  to  sleep, 

I  know  that  God  His  child  will  keep! 

I  know  that  God  my  life  is  nigh! 

I  live  in  Him!     I  cannot  die! 

God  is  my  health,  I  can't  be  sick! 

God  is  my  strength,  unfailing,  quick! 

God  is  my  All!  I  know  no  fear, 

Since  God  and  Love  and  Truth  are  here. 

179 


AGREEMENT. 

Agree  with  thine  adversary  quickly. — Jesus. 

I  am  Mind  and  one    with  Eternal 

Mind. 

Eternal  Mind  is  ever  wise  and  all 

IT  does  is  good. 

No  matter  what  IT  brings,  it  is  for 

my  good. 

I  agree  with  all  events  that  they  are 

good. 

Every  day  is  a  good  day. 

I  contend  not  with  aught  it  brings. 

Each  person  is  a  manifestation  of 

the  All-Good. 

I  antagonize  no  person. 

Each  experience  grows  out  of  my 

needs. 

I  accept  all  with  gladness  and  by 

agreeing  therein  find  harmony  and 

peace. 

Whatever  is,  is  from  the  One  Source 

and  is  good. 

With  the  good  within  each  person, 

place,  thing  or  condition,  I  agree, 

and  all  is  peace. 

180 


NATURE. 

Speak,  Lord,  for  thy  servant  heareth. 

Earth,  like  ye,  I  say:  "Speak,  for 
am  equally  ready  at  all  times  for  the 
at  the  call  of  Love !  my  soul  is  as  re- 
sponsive as  thine  to  Love's  whis- 
finite  Love.  My  Supply  is  constant. 
Flowers  bloom  with  joy  in  every 
petal ;  they  but  reflect  the  joy  in  my 
heart. 

Orchards  are  laden  for  me,  and  ev- 
ery branch  holds  in  its  fruitage 
good  cheer,  caught  from  the  happi- 
ness of  my  soul. 

The  grain  fields  wave  with  harvest 
for  me.  0,  how  beautiful  is  the 
cheer  of  their  undulations;  it  is  but 
the  response  of  my  soul  to  the  All- 
Good  for  the  blessing  of  Being! 
Rivers  flow  for  me;  brooks  babble 
in  delight,  for  they,  too,  enjoy  Be- 
ing. "God  bless  you!"  I  murmur, 
because  I  can  say,  "Cheer,"  and 
they  can  only  be  cheer. 
181 


Ocean  encircles  the  globe  for  me. 
In  tide  and  wave,  it  brings  me  from 
all  lands  that  which  adds  to  my  hap- 
piness. Its  melody  and  beauty  are 
but  the  adornments  of  my  theatre  of 
Being. 

O,  how  glad  I  am  that  I  live!  Glad 
for  my  Conscious  Life. 
All  is  mine!  All  this  wondrous  life 
about  me  is  that  I  may  be.  I  am! 
I  enter  these  treasures  and  enjoy 
them.  My  every  act  is  one  of  pleas- 
ure. My  words  are  words  of  praise; 
my  thoughts  are  blessed  thoughts  of 
love. 


182 


BEING. 

0  clap  your  hands,  all  ye  people; 

Shout  unto  God  with  the  voice  of  triumph. 
—Psalm  XLVII. 

My  heart  is  light  and  glad,  for  I  am 
alive.    0,  this  glad  sense  of  Being! 
My  pulses  bound  with  gladness,  and 
my  soul  shouts  with  joy. 

1  go  singing  all  the  day;  my  heart  is 
so  glad.    My  every  moment  is  so  full 
of  cheer. 

"God  bless  you,"  I  think  as  I  look 
upon  everything. 

In  my  joy,  I  glance  lovingly  to  ev- 
ery person,  I  pet  every  child,  and 
give  love  to  every  animal  I  meet. 
My  words  convey  the  good  cheer  of 
my  soul,  and  my  face  shines  with 
my  gladness. 

0,  all  the  world  is  mine  in  which 
to  live  and  enjoy! 

0,  all  the  universe  is  mine  in  which 
to  be  and  enjoy! 
0,  the  stars  join  in  my  good  cheer, 

183 


and  every  beam  is  bringing  me  hap- 
piness! 

0,  the  sun  shines  for  me ;  good  cheer 
is  every  ray  of  its  light! 
All  is  mine !  I  enter  into  this  world 
of  life  and  beauty  without,  and  the 
world  of  Love  and  Truth  within, 
with  a  deep  sense  of  responsibility 
that  I  enjoy,  and  in  cheerfulness  ex- 
press the  joy  I  have  in  Being. 

0  Father,  most  I  think  thee  that  I 
live,  that  I  am,  and  that  all  is  Mine. 
This  is  enough  for  me,    I  am  I,  and 

1  am  that  I  forever!    Amen. 


184 


EXPERIENCE. 

Step  by  step  since  time  began, 

I  see  the  steady  gain  of  man. — Whitticr. 

Life  is  Infinite! 

All  its  manifestations  are  progress- 
ive. 

The  Law  of  Life  is  Unfoldment. 
As  a  manifestation  of  God,  I  am  In- 
finite in  possibilities. 
The  possibilities  of  the  Soul  mani- 
fest as  fast  as  is  necessary  for  the 
good  of  the  conscious  man. 
I  am  incarnate  that  I  may  unfold 
that  which  I  am. 

I  unfold  through  every  experience. 
Opportunities  can  only    come  as  I 
am  ready. 

My  necessity  creates  opportunities. 
I  draw  that  which  I  need. 
I  create  this  need  by  both  what  I  do 
and  by  what  I  neglect  to  do. 
Sins  of  omission  are  equal  in  un- 
foldment  to  those  of  commission. 
Whatever  comes  is  mien,  because  I 
draw  it. 

185 


Every  experience  I  need  that  I  may 
express  the  Intelligence  I  am,  comes 
to  me.    Every  experience  I  need  to 
Every  experience  I  need  to  express 
the  Truth  I  am,  comes  to  me. 
Every  experience  I  need  to  express 
the  Love  I  am,  comes  to  me. 
Life  flows  into  expression  through 
experience  and  under  this  experi- 
ence I  unfoll. 

All  is  good,  and  I  take  every  lesson 
in  experience  happily,  for  through 
each  I  realize  more  of  my  own  Om- 
niscience and  Omnipotence. 
Blessed    am  I  because   I  have  un- 
folded through  experience. 
Heaven  consists  in  unfolding     the 
Truth  and  Love  I  am. 
No  matter  what  the  experience,  it 
centers  me  in  God. 


186 


SELF-TRUST. 

"I  know  that  my  redeemer  liveth!" 

The  Universe  is  indivisible.  It  acts 
as  a  whole. 

It  is  all  I  can  think  it  to  be  and 
more. 

Every  phenomenon  is  a  manifesta- 
tion of  the  whole  Universe  acting  in 
that  phenomenon. 

Since  I  think  of  the  Universe  as 
wisdom,  Goodness  and  Power,  I  like 
to  term  it  God. 

I  am  a  phenomenon  of  the  Universe ! 
I  am  an  expression  of  God. 
As  that  Expression  I    am  Infinite 
Possibility ! 

I  think  of  myself  as  an  Expression 
of  God. 

In  this     consciousness  lies   my  re- 
demption from  all  ills. 
God  in  me  is  Power;  in  His  power  I 
am  strength! 

God  in  me  is  Truth;  in  His  Truth  I 
am  intelligent! 

187 


God  in  me  is  Life ;  in  His  Life  I  am 
health! 

God  in  me  is  Love;  in  His  Love  I 
am  good! 

As  Life  I  cannot  be  ill! 
As  Power  I  cannot  fail! 
As  Wisdom  I  cannot  do  wrong! 
As  Truth  I  cannot  err! 
As  Love  I  cannot  do  harm! 
In  this  consciousness  I  affirm:— 
I  am  Power  to  do,  and  to  be,  what- 
ever I  will  to  do  and  to  be! 
I  am  Wisdom  and  I  will  to  do,  and 
to  be  healthful,  wise  and  happy! 
As  Love  I  will    to    do,  and  to  be, 
Goodness! 

In  this  consciousness    I    have  full 
faith  in  myself  and  am  at  peace. 


188 


HARMONY. 

The  heavens  declare  the  glory  of  God. 

Harmony  is  Nature's  one  method  of 
manifestation. 

All  harmony  comes  from  my  con- 
tentions. 

I  make  all  discord  by  my  unwilling- 
ness to  agree  with  Nature.  I  change 
my  attitude  and  with  all  Nature's 
manifestations  I  agree  and  am  at 
rest. 

Ehythm  everywhere.  Nature's  un- 
dulatory  motion,  like  mother's  cra- 
dle, lulls  me  into  peace. 
Undulatory,  rhythmic  melodies,  are 
all  the  motions  of  Nature.  In  these 
God  is  music. 

I,  a  Son  of  God,  now  throw  aside  all 
conscious  thought  and  enter  into  the 
Harmony  of  Nature. 
All  fear  passes  away,  and  all  is  one 
melodious  life. 

Life,  thou  art  beautiful,  thou  are 
melodious,  thou  art  rhythmic.  I 

189 


know  thee  only  as  Harmony. 
I  am  one  with,  and  vibrate  with, 
Beauty  and  Goodness.     I  lose  my- 
self in  Him  and  find  Him  in  me,  as 
Joy,  Harmony  and  Peace. 
Peace  is  born  in  the  agreement  of 
myself  with  the  One-that-is. 
In  Him  I  am  Peace. 


190 


SUPPLY. 

The  Lord  is  my  shepherd,  and  I  shall  not 
want. 

The  One  whom  I  call  Father  cares 
for  me. 

He  has  enough  and  to  spare  for  all 
His  children. 

As  a  shepherd  cares  for  his  flock, 
He  cares  for  me. 
All  my  wants  are  supplied. 
He  gives  each  day  the  Life  I  need 
and  I  use  it  in  health. 
He  gives  each  day  the  Truth  I  need 
and  I  use  it  to  direct  the  Life  I  am. 
He  gives  me  each  day  the  Love  I 
need,  and  I  use  it  to  bless  my  fellow- 
man. 

Life  needs  material  Supply. 
Through  Truth  and  Love  I  draw 
this  supply. 

I  do  not  want,  for  I  use  the  talents 
and  take  advantage  of  the  opportu- 
nities He  gives  me. 
I  am  always  peaceful  and  contented 
and  thus  see  the  way  to  supply. 

191 


I  cannot  want,  for  He  is  with  me  and 

He  is  Supply. 

I  cannot  lack  in  anything,  for  He  is 

with  me  and  he  is  All. 

I  turn  to  Him  in  faith  each  morn, 

and  prepare  myself  to  receive  my 

daily  supply. 

Love  never  faileth,  and  He  is  Love. 

I  am  Love;  I  look  in  love  to  Love, 

and  I  am  supplied. 


192 


LIBERTY. 

The  liberty  of  the  Sons  of  God.— Paul. 

There  is  but  One  Power. 
This  One  Power  fills  all;  controls 
all;  is  all! 

In  this  Power  I  have  my  Being! 
I  am  as  Being,  Life! 
As    Life  I  am  a  Son  of    the    One 
Power ! 

Power  flows  continually  through  me 
as  its  expression! 

As  a  conscious  individuality  I  rec- 
ognize this  flow  and  call  it  growth. 
My  consciousness  of  the  Life-flow 
increases  each  day! 
In  larger  consciousness  I  of  each 
day  affirm,  I  am! 

As  a  flow  from  the  One  Center,  I  am 
Life! 

As  normal  Life-flow,  I  am  health! 
As    a    conscious    center    through 
Lifers-flow,  I  feel! 
As  feeling,  I  am  Love! 
As  love  individualized,  I  think! 
The  result  of  thinking  is  Thought! 
193 


I  think,  and  I  am  what  I  think! 
As  a  Son  of  God,  I  am  Power  evolv- 
ed to  Thought! 

As  Thought  I  am  Power  individual- 
ized! 

By  Thought  I  direct  my  life  and  my 
love! 

As  a  Son  of  God  I  express  Life  and 
Thought  as  goodness. 
As  a  Son  of  God,  I  am  free  as  Pow- 
er to  direct  my  life,  and  I  affirm- 
All  is  Good! 

I  am  free  to  be  and  to  do  as  I  desire ! 
I  am  Power  as  Free-Will  to  execute 
my  desire ! 

In  this  freedom  I  am  Health,  Hap- 
piness and  Prosperity. 


194 


LOVE. 

Love  ye  one  another. 

God  and  I  are  One!  and,  as  He   is 
Law." 

Love  is  constant. 
As  Love,  I  am  ever  ready. 
In  this  readiness  find  my  happiness, 
my   heaven,     my    prosperity,     my 
health.    Now  is  the  appointed  time! 
Now  is  the  day  of  salvation! 
In  Truth  and  Love,  I  am  ready. 
I  am  ever  ready   at   call  of  lover, 
friend,  humanity,  with  cup  of  water 
or  ministrations  of  Power. 
God  and  I  are  One!  and,  as  He  is 
ever    ready    in    the    unconscious 
world,  so  am  I  ever    ready  in  the 
Self-  conscious  world  of  Life. 
No  call  of  Love  finds  me  unprepar- 
ed, for  I  am  as  constant  as  God  is, 
for  He  worketh  in  me. 
Truth  is  everpresent,  and  I  am  ever 
ready  with  words  to  cheer  and  bless, 
for  where  Truth  is,  I  am. 
"Love  never  faileth."    Love  I  am. 

195 


In  Love  I  trust,  and  nothing  finds 
me  unprepared. 

"Love  is  the  fulfillment  of  the  law. 
Love  is  constant.  With  Love,  I  am 
ever  ready. 

In  this    readiness    find   my  happi- 
ness, my  heaven,  my  prosperity,  my 
health.    Now  is  the  appointed  time ! 
Now  is  the  day  of  salvation! 
In  Truth  and  Love,  I  am  ready. 


196 


TRUST. 

Though  he  slay  me,  will  I  trust  in  Him. 

The  One  is  All-Good,  therefore  I 
trust  in  Him. 

The  One  is  All-Love,  and  He  cares 
for  me. 

The  One  is  All-Truth,  and  I  feel 
sure  of  guidance. 

The  One  is  All-Life,  and  I  in  Him 
am  always  health. 

The  One  is  to  me  Father,  Compan- 
ion and  Friend,  therefore  I  fear  no 
evil. 

The  One  abideth  in  me  and  I  in 
Him,  therefore  I  am  Protection. 
Whatever  befalls  comes  from  Him 
and  is  good. 

When  trials  come,  I  trust  the  more, 
for  He  sends  them. 
As  a  child  trusts  its  mother,  so  do 
I  trust  the  One  in  whom  I  have  my 
Being. 

Welcome  all  Life's  lessons,  for  He 
sends  them,  and  in  Him  I  trust. 
He  says,  "Come  to  Me  and  rest". 

197 


In  trust  I  come. 

This  rest  is  consciousness  that  He 

is  good. 

In  this  conscious  Trust  I  find  health, 

happiness  and  Peace. 


198 


FRIENDSHIP. 

"He  was  a  friend  of  publicans  and  sinners." 

I  thank  whatever  powers  may  be 
for  my  friends. 

Friends  are  the  sunshine  of  my  life. 
Friends  bear  the  same  relation  to 
my  unfoldment  that  sun  bears  to 
flower. 

Friends  make  me  know  myself  as 
Love. 

Friends  have  been  my  inspiration 
to  all  growth  in  the  past. 
I  know  more  of  myself  because  of 
my  friends.    Friendship  is  the  rich- 
est fruit  of  the  Soul. 
Friendship  is  the  purest  expression 
of  Human  Life. 

Friendship  is  the  end  for  which  all 
social  experiences  tend. 
Friendship  is  the  only  way  to  hap- 
piness and  peace. 

A  nation    that    contains    the  most 
friends  is  the  strongest  nation. 
I  will  encourage    the    making   of 
friends. 

199 


I  will  sing  the  praise  of  -Friendship. 
Through  Friendship  I  develop  loy- 
alty to  self,  to  society,  to  the  Na- 
tion. 

I  will  sing  of  Friendship  that  I  may 
thereby  develop  a  loyalty  to  Love. 
Love  is  the  Power  which  effuses  in 
friendship. 

Love  the  Universal  Panacea  for  all 
life's  ills. 

To  have  friends  I  must  be  a  friend. 
I  wish  to  have  every  person  as  a 
friend. 

I  cannot  afford  to  have  an  enemy. 
I  will  love  everybody,  then  I  will 
have  no  enemy. 

Enemies  cannot  be  unless  I  make 
them  in  my  thought  and  in  loveless 
condition  to  them. 
My  affirmation  of  life  is,  Love! 
I  LOVE  EVERYBODY! 


200 


GUIDANCE. 

What  shall  I  do  to  be  saved? 

Divine  Power  enables  me  to  see  and 
to  do. 

There  is  for  me  an  Inner  Voice. 

There  is  for  me  a  Divine  Guidance. 

There  is  for  me  at  all  times  the  right 
thing  to  do. 

There  is  for  me  always  a  choice  of 
the  Better. 

There  is  for  me  ever  the  necessity 
of  Decision. 

There  is  within  me  a  divine  tend- 
ency outward  of  the  Spirit. 

That  tendency  is  ever  urging  me  to 
be  and  to  do. 

In  doing,  the  Soul  evolves  into  con- 
sciousness of  Itself. 

The  Divine  IT  within  knows  Its 
way. 

I  trust  that  Divine  current  in  me. 

I  hear  the  Divine  Word. 

Its  Inspiration  is  my  guide. 

Power  enables  me  to  see  and  to  do. 

201 


The  Word  of  Silence  and  in  Silence 

determines  my  choice. 
The  Vision  of  the  Silence  influences 

all  my  life. 
Through    the  Vision  of   the  Ideal 

comes  to  me  the  right  Word. 
To  the  Ideal  I  lowly  listen!    I  hear! 

I  decide! 

I  trust  my  decision  and  am  victori- 
ous. 
No  Vision  can  I  see,  no  Word  can  I 

hear  amid  the  turmoil  of  doubt. 
In  faith  I  listen! 
In  Faith  I  see  the  Vision. 
In  Faith  I  hear  the  Word. 
In  faith  in  Self  I  decide. 
And  in  Faith  I  accept  results. 
Through   obedience   to   the   Eight 

Word  I  am  happy,  healthful  and 

successful. 
All  is  well  with  me!    All  is  Peace! 


202 


LIGHT. 

Let  your  light  shine. — Jesus. 

I  am  Light!    I  am  the  Light  of  the 

world!    I  am  the  Light  that  shineth 

in  darkness. 

Through    Kealization,  I  have  come 

into  a  comprehension  of  the  Light 

I  am. 

Light  shineth  and  the  darkness  of 

error  doth  disappear.    I  shine  and 

illumine  my  brother's  path. 

I  shine  that  I  may  enjoy!    I  shine 

that  I  may  unfold!    I  shine  that  I 

may  inspire ! 

I  shine  that  by  shining  I  may  know 

myself  as  a  child  of  the  One,  who  is 

Light  ineffable.    I  am  Life  and  Life 

is    Light.    I  am    Live  and  Life  is 

Love. 

Love's  flame  is  Thought.    Love  en- 

lighteneth  the  world. 

Love  living  in  my  brain  as  Thought 

maketh  for  me  a  heaven  here  and 

now. 

203 


PEACE. 

"My  Peace  I  give  unto  you." 
Peace  is  mine. 

Heavenly  peace  that  passeth  all  un- 
derstanding. 

No  more  I  strive  for  Peace — I  real- 
ize that  I  am  peace  in  Thee,  Who  art 
Peace. 

The  Father  and  I  are  one. 
I  have  taken  the  words  of  our  Elder 
Brother  into  my  life  and  I  am  One 
with  the  Father. 
I  am  One  with  The  Father. 
In  this    Realization    I    found    the 
peace  I  have  sought  so  long. 
After    years    of    seeking    I    found 
that    which  I  have     most     desired 
within  my  own  breast. 
His  Peace  is  my  Peace. 
I  am  Strength.    Even  as  the  miner 
finds  the  precious  ore  he  seeks  deep 
in  the  earth — so  I — within  myself 
have  found  strength  for  my  every 
need. 

204 


His  strength  is  my  strength. 

His  Love  is  my  Love. 

His  love  is  now  in  my  heart. 

In  this  love  I  am  realizing  more  and 

more  deeply  my  oneness  with    my 

fellow-man. 

He  is  in  me.    We  are  One.    Blest  be 

the  tie  that  binds. 

This  thought    of    God    makes  me 

thankful. 

This  Eealization  awakens  a  love  for 

my  fellow  man. 

This    realization   gives   me  lasting 

peace.    I  am  Peace. 

— Sajn  Exton  Foulds. 


205 


O  what  a  glorious  record 
Had  the  angels  of  me  kept; 

Had  I  done  instead  of  doubted; 
Had  I  warred  instead  of  wept. 

— Anon. 


I  will  fear  no  evil, 
For  thou  art  with  me! 
Thy  rod  and  thy  staff 
They  comfort  me. 

— 23d   Psalm. 


O  Thou  to  who  are  known 
Thy  creatures  as  they  be, 

Forgive  me  if  too  close  I  lean 
My  human  heart  on  thee. 

— Whitticr. 


All  is  of  God  that  is  or  is  to  be! 

And  God  is  good; 

Let  this  suffice  us,  still 

Resting   in   child-like    trust   upon    His    will 

Who  moves  to  his  great  ends 

Unthwarted  by  the  ill. 

—Whitticr. 

206 


Where  human  weakness  has  come   short 

Or  frailty  stept  aside, 
Do  Thou,  All-Good — for  such  Thou  are — 

In  shades  of  darkness  hide. 
Where  with  intention  I  have  erred, 

No  other  plea   I   have; — 
But  Thou  art  God!    And  Goodness  still 

Delighteth    to    forgive. 

Robert   Burns. 


I     searched     through     strange     pathways 

winding 
For   knowledge   that   should   lead   me   to 

God; 

But  farther  away  seemed  the  finding 
In  every  new  pathway  I  trod. 

I  searched  for  wisdom  and  knowledge; 

They  escaped  me  the  harder  I  sought; 
For  teacher  and  text-book  and  college 

Gave  only  confusion  of  thought. 

I  sat  where  the  Silence  was  speaking 
And  chanced  to  look  into  my  Soul. 

I  found  there  all  I  was  seeking! 
My  Spirit  encompassed  the  whole. 

—Ella  Wheeler  Wilcox. 

207 


Power,  which  always  is  from  Spirit,  is  never 
conquered!      Weakness    is    mortal    disease. 
Power  is  immortal,  being  perfect  health. 
— Andrew  Jackson   Davis. 


Fold  her,  O  Father,  in  thy  breast 

And  let  her  henceforth  be, 
A  Messenger  of  Love  between 

Our  human  hearts  and  thee. 

— Whittier. 


It  matters  not  how  straight  the  gate, 
How  charged  with  punishment  the  scroll! 

I  am  the  Maker  of  my  Fate, 
I  am  the  Captain  of  my  Soul. 

—Henley. 


Here  in  the  body  pent 

Apart  from  him  I  roam; 
But  nightly  pitch  my  moving  tent 

A  day's  march  nearer  Home. 

— Montgomery. 


208 


A  PRAYER. 

I  ask  Thee  not  for  days  or  years. 
I  ask  Thee  not  for  joys  or  tears; 

But  today,  O  Lord! 
Beat  me  on  the  anvil  of  Thy  wrath — 
And  all  along  the  upward  path, 
Give  me  Thy  Word, 
Today. 

I  ask  Thee  not  for  Good  to  come, 
I  ask  not  for  a  future  home; 

But  today,  O  Lord, 
Beat  me  on  the  anvil  of  Thy  wrath — 
Yea,    tear    from    me    each    crutch    and 
staff- 
Give  me  Thy  Word 
Today. 

I  ask  Thee  not  for  beds  of  ease, 
I  ask  Thee  not  for  bitter  lees; 

But  today,  O  Lord! 
Beat  me  on  the  anvil  of  thy  wrath — 
And  'midst  thy  making  I  will  laugh — 
Give  me  Thy  Word 
Today. 

— Sam  Exton  Foulds. 


209 


God  of  the  granite  and  the  rose; 

Soul  of  the  sparrow  and  the  bee; 
The  mighty  tide  of  Being  flows 

To  all  thy  Creatures,  Lord,  frorh  thee. 
It  springs  to  life  in  grass  and  flowers, 

Through  every  grade  of  being  runs, 
Till  from   Creation's  radiant  towers 

Its  glory  flames  in  stars  and  suns. 


God  of  the  granite  and  the  rose; 

Soul  of  the  sparrow  and  the  bee; 
The  mighty  tide  of  Being  flows 

Through  all  thy  Creatures  back  to  thee. 
Thus  round  and  round  the  current  runs, 

A  mighty  sea  without  a  shore! 
Till  men  and  angels,  stars  and  suns 

Unite  to  praise  thee  evermore. 

— Lizzie  Doten. 


210 


THY  WILL. 

The  proudest  heart  that  ever  beat 

Hath  been  subdued  in  Thee. 
The  wildest  will  that  ever  rose 
To  scorn  thy  cause  or  raid  thy  foes 
Is  crushed,  my  God,  in  me. 

Thy  will,  and  not  my  will,  be  done; 

My  heart  is  wholly  thine. 
Confessing  Thee,  the  Almighty  Word, 
My  Savior,  Christ,  my  God,  my  Lord, 

Thy  cross  shall  be  my  sign. 

—William  Howe. 


211 


OUR  Father  which  are  in  heaven, 
Hallowed  be  thy  name. 
Thy  kingdom  come, 
Thy  will  be  done  in  earth 
As  it  is  in  heaven. 
Give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread, 
And  forgive  us  our  debts 
As  we  forgive  our  debtors. 
And  lead  us  not  into  temptation, 
But   deliver  us   from   evil: 
For  thine  is  the  kingdom  and  the  power 
And  the  glory,  forever.     Amen. 

(Ordinary  version.) 


I  thank  thee,  Source  of  every  bliss, 
For  every  bliss  I  know: 
I  thank  thee,  thou  didst  train  me  so 

To  learn  thy  way  in  this: 
That  wishing  good,  and  doing  good, 

Is  laboring,  Lord,  with  thee: 
That  charity  is  gratitude: 
And  piety  best  understood, 

A  sweet  humanity. 

— From  the  Dutch  of  Tollens. 
212 


When  I  sleep  (as  sleep  I  shall) 
Let  the  stillness  breathe,  "All's  well!" 
So,  one  passing  by  the  cell 
Where  a  hermit  once  did  dwell, 
Fancies  still  the  chanted  prayer 
Hallows  all  the  listening  air; 
Let  none  thither  come  in  dread 
Lest  that  sleep  be  of  the  dead; 
Let  them  know  a  waking  soul 
Now  hath  portion  with  the  whole — 
Now  hath  come  into  its  own, 
In  the  farand-near  unknown. 

— Edith  M.  Thomas. 


213 


Let  us  not  have  the  prayers  of  one  sect, 
nor  of  the  Christian  Church,  but  of  all  men 
of  all  ages  and  of  all  religions,  who  have 
prayed  well.  The  prayer  of  Jesus  is,  as  it 
deserves,  become  a  form  for  the  human 
race. — Emerson. 


A  spiritual  Substance  is  the  cause  of  the 
universe  and  the  source  of  all  order  and 
beauty,  all  motion  and  all  the  forms  which 
we  admire  in  it. — Aristotle. 


To  find  the  Maker  and  Father  of  ALL  is 
hard,  and  having  found  Him,  it  is  impossi- 
ble to  utter  Him. — Plato. 


God  is  near  you,  is  with  you,  is  within  you. 
— Seneca. 


214 


THE  INDWELLING. 

The  flowing  soul,  nor  low  nor  high, 

Is  perfect  here,  is  perfect  there, 
Each  drop  in  ocean  orbs  the  sky; 

And  seeing  eye  makes  all  things  fair. 
The  evening  clouds,  the  wayside  flower, 

Surpass  the  Andes  and  the  rose; 
And  wrapped  in  every  hasty  hour 

Is  all  the  lengthened  year  bestows. 
Therefore  erased  my  false  degrees! 

From    stock  and    stone  strike  stars    and 

fire; 
Lo!  even  in  the  least  of  these 

Dwells  the  Lord-Christ  whom  I  desire! 
—Theodore  C.  Williams   (altered). 


215 


"And   He  rebuked  the  wind  and  said   unto   the  sea, 
'Peace!    Be   Still!'  " 

I  am  the  Power  of  Unconquered  Will! 
The  Presence  mine  of,  "Peace,  Be  Still!" 
"I  give  my  Peace";   Most  blessed  of  all 
The  glorious  words  that  Jesus  gave! 
"My  Peace  I  leave";  'Tis  mine.     At  call 
That  Peace  around  me  now  is  shed! 
Though  tempests  rage  my  Soul  is  calm, 
And  every  wind  shall  bring  me  balm! 

What   Power   has   changed   Life's   Currents 

thus? 

What  Presence  brought  to  Soul  this  Peace? 
What  word  occult  has  cleared  my  sky 
And  brought  to  me  this  sure  surcease? 
There  is  one  word,  all  else  above — 
One  word  of  Power  and  Peace — 'Tis  Love. 
— Henry  Harrison  Brown. 


216 


I  WELCOME  ALL. 

Mine  are  life's  sorrows  and  its  joys! 

I  welcome  anguish  and  all  strife! 
I  claim  the  hours  without  alloy, 

But  prize  the  miseries  of  Life! 
They  all  are  mine!     Since  I  am  all, 

I  all  must  know,  would  I  be  free! 
Serving  obediently  their  call, 

I  have  achieved  Life's  mastery. 

As  long  as  Pain  could  wound  me,  I 

Did  suffer  pain!     Blind  Worry,  too, 
Was  close  companion  to  my  side, 

As  long  as  I  her  ear  did  woo! 
Lank  Poverty  with  her  unrest 

Followed  my  footsteps  day  by  day 
Until  I  learned,  "What  is,  is  best — " 

Unmasked  they  now  sing  on  my  way! 

'Tis  I  that  make  or  mend  or  mar! 

I  mould  the  moments  as  I  breathe! 
Loving  doth  Pain  and  Care 

Where  once  was  cross,  the  roses  wreathe! 
Thus  I,  Creator,  Destiny 

Have    changed    the   power    in     wand   of 

Time! 
All  good  and  wise  is  Life  to  me! 

From  all  Life's  grapes  I  press  sweet  wine. 
— Henry  Harrison  Brown. 


217 


HEREIN  IS  PEACE. 

Herein  is  peace.     O  Lord,  to  live  Thy  day 
In  fulness  all  along  a  perfect  way, 
Each  step  to  see  a  new  and  perfect  thing, 
A  baby-smile,  a  glist'ning  insect-wing; 
But  if  the  way  seems  dark  unto  my  eyes 
I  know  the  road  leads  unto  paradise. 

Herein  is  peace.  The  shadows  may  be  deep 
And  unknown  dangers  all  about  me  creep, 
Still  to  protect  me  is  Thy  wondrous  hand, 
On  sea  and  shore,  or  in  the  stranger's  land; 
More  near  Thou  art  than  any  earthly  friend, 
Thou  art  my  Life,  my  very  being's  end. 

Herein  is  peace.     To  do  Thy  blessed  will, 
When    I'm   afraid,   to   hear — Thy   peace   be 

still; 

Thy  love  is  mine;  I  have  but  to  partake, 
And    in    Thy    strength    I    now    my    heaven 

make; 

No  more  I  seek  Thee  far  from  me  apart, 
I  feel  Thee  in  the  beating  of  my  heart. 

Herein  is  peace.  To  live  in  perfect  trust, 
To  know  without  Thee  all  of  life  is  dust, 
And  when  that  hour  comes  when  I  must 

stand 

Unshod — alone,  a  stranger  in  that  land; 
Child-like    I'll   know   Thy  'biding  presence 

near, 

Stand  naked,  unashamed,  without  a  fear! 
— Sam  Exton  Foulds. 


218 


GOD'S   AUTOGRAPH 

"Be   Thyself!"     The   great    Commandment 

Written   in  my  Soul! 
"Be  thyself!     And  stand  the  firmest 

When  Life's  surges  wildest  roll!" 

Reason  is  my  helmsman! 

He'll  guide  my  bark  aright! 
Ever  is  love  my  pole-star! 

No  clouds  can  dim  its  light! 

I  must  sail  like  all  around  me, 

Oft  in  calm  and  oft  in  storm! 
Oft  I'll  hear  the  cordage  creaking, 

Oft  torn   sails  come  rattling  down; 

Oft  the  reefs  that  rise  before  me 
Turn  me  from  my  chosen  path; 

Oft  overboard  I'll  cast  my  treasure: 
Oft  the  Past  grin  like  a  wraith! 

Courage  still!     The  storm  when  ended 

Leaves  a  smoother  sea! 
And  ip  place  of  sails  thus  rended 

Whiter  sails  shall  be! 

And  in  place  of  sunken  treasure, 

A  richer  cargo  shall  I  find! 
And  my  path  now  seeming  wayward 

Shall  prove  straight  as  path  of  wind! 

219 


And    the    wraith    that    came    to    daunt    me 

Shall  prove  my  angel  guide, 
Who  with  smiles  is  beckoning  onward 

To  Life's  calmest  tide! 

When  I've  anchored  in  that  haven, 

And  complete  my  log; 
I  shall  find  therein  recorded 

"Peace!"  my  Autograph  of  God! 

— Henry  Harrison  Brown. 


For  this  is  Love's  nobility, — 
Not  to  scatter  bread  and  gold, 
Goods  and   raiment  bought   and   sold; 
But  to  hold  fast  his  simple  sense, 
And  speak  the  speech  of  innocence, 
And  with  hand  and  body  and  blood, 
To  make  his  bosom-counsel  good. 
He  that  feeds  men  serveth  few; 
He  serves  all  who  dares  be  true. 

— Emerson. 


Prayer  that  craves  a  commodity — anything 
less  than  all  good — is  vicious.  As  soon  as 
the  man  is  at  one  with  God,  he  will  not 
beg.  He  will  then  see  prayer  in  all  action. 
The  prayer  of  the  farmer  kneeling  in  his 
field  to  weed  it,  the  prayer  of  the  rower 
kneeling  with  stroke  of  the  oar,  are  true 
prayers  heard  throughout  all  nature. — Em- 
erson. 

220 


Unto  the  ALL  be  honor  given, — 
I  shall  not  see  Him  even  in  heaven: 
The  outline  of  Infinity, 
The  Substance  of  Divinity, 
Created  spirit  may  not  grasp; 
Only  by  faith  his  knees   I   clasp. 
My  little  rill  draws  near  the  sea! 
Source  of  my  soul,  I  come  to  Thee! 

— The  dying  Buddhist's  hymn. 


I  do  not  fear  to  tread  the  path 

That  those  I   love  have  long  since  trod; 
I  do  not  fear  to  pass  the  gates 

And  stand  before  the  living  God. 
In  this  world's  fight  I've  done  my  part; 

If  God  be  God  He  knows  it  well; 
He  will  not  turn  his  back  on  me 

And  send  me  down  to  blackest  hell 
Because  I  have  not  prayed  aloud 

And  shouted  in  the  market-place. 
'Tis  what  we  do,  not  what  we  say, 

That  makes  us  worthy  of  His  gra^ce. 

— Jeannette  L.  Gilder. 


And  what  is  left  for  us,  save,  in  growth 
Of  soul,  to  rise  up,  far  past  both, 
From  the  gift  looking  to  the  giver, 
And  from  the  cistern  to  the  river, 
And  from  the  finite  to  infinity, 
And  from  man's  dust  to  God's  divinity. 
— Browning. 

221 


MINE  OWN. 

"Our  Father?"     I  His  beloved  son, 
Then  I'm  His  heir  and  all  is  mine! 
His  child?     My  Father?     We're  one? 
Then  all  is  mine  from  sand  to  sun, 
And  all  the  stars  that  nightly  shine, 
And  fruitful  tree  and  clinging  vine, 
And  all  the  brooks  that  circling  run, 
Are  mine — All,  all  are  mine! 

"Our  Father,  may  thy  kingdom  come!" 
"Our  Father?"     Mine?     My  kingdom  then! 
His  Power  is  mine  since  we're  one! 
By  that  one  Power  all  things  are  done! 
His  Power  is  with  the  beast  in  den 
And  His  the  Power  of  armed  men! 
In  Him  my  every  victory's  won, 
And  all  is  mine — is  mine! 

"Our  Father!     May  thy  will  be  done!" 
"Our  Father?"     Mine?     His  will  my  will? 
Then  as  the  years  unfolding  run 
I  only  have  my  race  begun! 
His  is  my  growing  thought  and  skill! 
My  every  act  his  plans  fulfill. 
Thus  is  one  strand  all  Life  is  spun, 
Since  all  is  mine — is  mine! 

"On  earth  as  'tis  in  heaven!"  the  cry. 
"On  earth?"     In  matter?     Everywhere? 
His  kingdom  then  on  earth  am  I! 
My  Father's  store  is  my  Supply, 
And  all  His  life  with  Him  I  share! 

222 


My  kingdom  is  His  constant  care! 
Love  broods  o'er  me  with  faithful  eye, 
Since  all  is  mine — is  mine. 

My  life,  my  will,  is  one  with  thine! 
Thy  kingdom,  Father,  is  my  all! 
The  prayer  for  peace  that  once  was  mine 
When  dim  the  stars  of  faith  did  shine, 
When  trembling  trust  oft  made  me  fall, 
Is  now  no  more!     I've  now  no  call, 
For  I  am  fruit  of  Love  the  vine, — 
And  all  is  mine — is  mine. 

— Henry  Harrison  Brown. 


There  shall  never  be  one  lost  good! 

What  was,  shall  live  as  before; 
The  evil  is  null,  is  naught,  is  silence 

implying    sound; 
What  was  good,  shall  be  good,  with, 

for  evil,  so  much  good  more; 
On  the  earth  the  broken  arcs;  in  the 
heaven,  a  perfect  round. 

— Browning. 


223 


God  bless  us  every  one. 

—Tiny 


A  NOW  affirma- 
tion with  my  com- 
pliments to  you. 

Henry  Harrison  Brown, 

589  Haight  St.  San  Francisco,  Cal. 


Trust  thyself!  Every  heart  vibrates 
to  that  iron  string. 

Accept  the  place  Divine  Providence 
has  found  for  you.  Emerson. 


I  trust  myself!  My  heart  vi- 
brates to  that  iron  string:. 


I  accept    the  place  Divine 
Providence  has  found  f cr  me. 


I  believe  in  myself! 

I  am  at  the  right  place  at 
the  right  time ! 


I  do  the  right  thing! 
I  think  the  right  thought! 
I  speak  the  right  word! 
All  is  well  with  me. 


-.;n 


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